Library  of  the  Theological  Seminary 

PRINCETON         o       NEW    JERSEY 


Gift  of 
President  Francis  Landy  Patton 
1904 
BV680  .K5  1860 
King,  David,  1806-1883. 
Ruling  eldership  of  the  Christian  church 


THE 


RULING    ELDERSHIP 


CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


REV.  DAVID  KING,  LL.D., 


BTTHE 


NEW    YORK: 
ROBERT    CARTER  &   BROTHERS, 

Nm   530    BROADWAY, 

1860. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction,  ------        -7 

PART  I. 
Brief  Statement  of  the  Argument  for  the  Office 

op  Ruling  Elder,       ------      14 


PART  II. 
Duties  of  Elders. 

Chap.  I. — Duties  common  to  them  with  others — Deport- 
ment in  Secular  Affairs,            -----  44 
Government  of  their  own  Families,  46 

Chap.  II. — Official  Duties  of  Elders  viewed  Individually : — 
Each  his  District,       -------51 

District  Roll-Book,    -------52 

Visitation  of  District,          ------  53 

Visitation  of  the  Sick,          -         -                  •        -        -  56 

Expostulation  with  Offenders,     -----  65 

Attentions  to  the  Young,  Classes,  etc.,  73 

District  Prayer  Meetings,             -----  82 

Chap.  III. — Official  Duties  of  Elders  viewed  Collectively: —  87 

Frequency  of  Meeting,  and  Regularity  of  Attendance,     -  88 
Minutes,  Congregational  List,  and  Apportioning  of  the 

Congregation,               ------  89 

Admission  of  Members,       ------  90 

Discipline,         -_--•---  97 

Measures  affecting  Public  Worship,  etc.,  99 

General  Encouragement  to  Beneficent  Institutions,         -  100 

Conclusion,       --------  101 

Chap.  IV.— Duties  of  Elders  in  the  higher  Church  Courts,  104 


IV  CONTENTS. 

PART  III. 
Qualifications  of  Elders. 

PAGE 

Chap.  I.— Age,  etc.,     -------    109 

Chap.  II.— Piety,         -        -        -        -        -        -        -110 

Chap.  III.— Knowledge,        - 122 

Chap.  IV. — Soundness  in  the  Faith,       -  125 

PART  rv. 
Encouragements  of  Elders. 

1.  The  Office  is  honourable  in  itself,  -     130 

2.  All  its  Engagements  are  of  a  Beneficent  Character,        -     132 

3.  They  who  fill  it  in  dependence  on  God's  grace  are  secured 

of  all  Needful  Assistance  in  Discharging  its  Duties,     -     134 

4.  All  who  have  filled  it  in  its  own  spirit  have  borne  Testi- 

mony to  its  Desirableness,        -----     138 

5.  A  Faithful  Discharge  of  its  Duties  shall  be  abundantly 

Recompensed  in  a  Future  State,       -  140 

Conclusion,      --------    150 


APPENDIX. 

Remarks  on  the  Liability  of  Elders  and  other  Ecclesiastical 
Office- Bearers  to  Actions  for  Damages  for  their  Official 
Acts,  1G6 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 


In  the  former  Editions  of  this  Volume,  I  discussed 
with  some  comprehensiveness  the  subject  of  ecclesi- 
astical polity.  In  the  present  Edition  that  part  is 
omitted,  because  I  design  to  merge  the  substance  of 
it  in  a  Reply  to  the  Recent  Defences  of  Independency 
by  Drs  Wardlaw  and  Davidson.*  I  have  been  the 
more  willing  to  follow  this  course,  that  I  have  had 
counsels  from  various  quarters  to  make  this  Treatise 
more  thoroughly  practical  in  its  character,  and  hence 
more  apprehensible  and  acceptable  to  the  majority  of 
leaders. 

In  place  of  the  general  disquisition  on  church 
government,  I  have  introduced  here  a  short  state- 
ment of  the  proof  for  the  particular  office  of  which  I 
delineate  the  duties. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity,  I  omit  former  Prefaces 
and  all  extraneous  matter — making  all  considerations 
bend  to  the  one  object  of  furnishing  a  very  cheap 
and  very  portable  directory  for  Elders. 

*  '  Congregational  Independency,  in  contradistinction  to  Epis- 
copacy and  Presbyterianism,  the  Church  Polity  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament.'    By  Ralph  Wardlaw,  D.D.     Glasgow,  1848. 

'  The  Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  New  Testament  unfolded,  and 
its  points  of  coincidence  or  disagreement  with  prevailing  systems 
indicated.'    By  Samuel  Davidson,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  Lite- 
rature in  the  Lancashire  Independent  College.      London,  1 848. 
A 


VI  PREFACE. 

It  may  suffice  to  state  here  that  this  work  origi- 
nated in  an  appointment  which  I  received  to  deliver 
an  Address  on  the  Duties  and  Encouragements  of 
Elders,  at  a  meeting  of  the  United  Associate  Pres- 
bytery of  Glasgow,  held  in  June,  1844.  The  office- 
bearers then  assembled,  consisting  of  the  Members 
of  Presbytery  and  a  large  body  of  Elders,  requested 
me  to  publish  the  Address,  and  a  wish  at  the  same 
time  was  pretty  generally  expressed  that  I  would 
extend  my  remarks,  and  discuss  the  subject  of  the 
Ruling  Eldership  in  all  its  more  important  relations 
and  bearings. 

The  Second  Edition  appeared  in  1846,  and  the 
practical  part,  as  then  published,  is  now  retained  with 
very  little  alteration. 

The  Appendix,  most  kindly  prepared  for  this  Edi- 
tion by  my  esteemed  friend,  James  Peddie,  Esq., 
W.S.,  will  be  found  to  be  of  great  value  in  aiding 
our  churches  to  regulate  discipline,  so  as  to  avoid 
collision  with  the  law  of  the  land. 

It  is  due  to  the  publishers  to  state,  that,  with  their 
wonted  liberality,  they  have  undertaker*,  for  the 
benefit  of  Elders,  to  bring  out  thie  Treatise  at  a 
price  which  excludes  all  idea  of  profit,  and  entails 
a  likelihood  of  considerable  sacrifice,  unless  the  sale 
should  prove  very  extensive. 

D.  K. 

Glasgow,  March,  1851. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Scotland  is  deeply  indebted  to  the  Ruling  Elders  of 
its  Presbyterian  denominations.  A  large  portion  of 
them  have  sustained  a  character  becoming  their  office, 
and  by  their  disinterested  labours  have  done  very 
much  to  build  up  the  congregations  with  which  they 
were  more  immediately  connected,  and  to  promote, 
in  a  wider  range,  the  general  interests  of  a  common 
Christianity.  Their  lives,  if  intimately  known  and 
faithfully  recorded,  would  furnish,  in  many  instances, 
most  genuine  additions  to  christian  biography.  It 
would  be  found  that  numbers  of  them  were  led  in 
early  life  to  consider  the  things  which  belonged  to 
their  peace.  Possibly  they  were  distracted  for  a 
season  by  doubts  and  fears,  and  much  occupied  in 
anxious  reading,  reflection,  and  prayer ;  but  ulti- 
mately they  were  rescued  from  these  perplexities, 
and  ■  being  justified  by  faith,  had  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ/  Their  personal  piety 
commended  itself  in  its  fruits,  and  more  and  more 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

developed  itself  in  a  diffusive  usefulness.  Yet  their 
attainments  and  services  becoming  so  appreciable  by 
others,  may  ha.\  e  been  very  lowly  esteemed  by  them- 
selves. The  consciousness  of  much  deficiency  and 
sinfulness  may  have  often  distressed  them  almost  to 
despair — often  clouded  their  interest  in  Christ,  and,  to 
their  own  view,  brought  its  very  existence  under  sus- 
picion. So  that,  when  they  were  chosen  by  the  church 
to  take  an  oversight  of  its  interests,  they  may  have 
shrunk  from  the  proffered  appointment,  as  only  rebuking 
the  defects  and  faults  which  unfitted  them  for  its  duties. 
Pressed,  however,  by  influences  which  they  were 
bound  to  respect,  they  did  enter,  possibly  with  trem- 
bling step,  into  sacred  office.  Its  duties,  even  at  the 
first,  did  not  prove  to  a  willing  mind  so  formidable  as 
had  been  dreaded.  Ere  long  they  became  congenial 
and  pleasing  to  beneficent  habits;  and  thus  the  faithful 
servant  grew  in  affection  and  adaptation  for  his  call- 
ing, till  He  who  assigned  the  service  exchanged  it  for 
rest,  and  '  an  eatrance  was  ministered  abundantly 
into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.'*  Such,  with  due  allowance  for  that 
diversity  which  prevails  in  the  spiritual,  as  well  as 
natural  creation — such  is  an  epitome  of  the  career, 
steadfastly  prosecuted  and  triumphantly  concluded,  by 
many  who  have  held  in  our  churches  that  honourable 
trust  of  which  I  have  to  treat.  And  we  might  lament 
that  so  little  justice  is  done  to  their  memory,  were  we 
not  assured  that  their  works,  and  labours,  and  patience 

*  2  Peter  i.  1 1. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

are  fully  and  ineffaceably  written  in  the  *  Lamb's  book 
of  life,' 

The  usefulness  of  our  elders  has  often  been  pro- 
longed in  their  families.  Many  of  their  children, 
enjoying  the  best  examples  and  training,  have  done 
credit  to  their  parentage  in  their  own  good  be- 
haviour and  success.  As  respects  the  church,  more 
especially,  it  might  create  surprise  to  learn  how  many 
of  its  elders  are  the  sons  of  elders,  and  to  what  a 
large  extent  the  roll  of  our  ministrjr  has  derived  its 
supplies  from  the  same  source.  Such  remarks  dispose 
us  for  commendation  rather  than  for  counsel,  and  fill 
us  with  gratitude  to  Him  who  hath  so  cared  for  his 
church,  in  providing  it  with  office-bearers  after  his 
own  heart. 

TTe  must  not,  however,  extend  our  eulogies  beyond 
due  limits.  So  far  they  may  have  the  sanction  of  the 
King  and  Head  of  the  church,  while  he  has  too  abun- 
dant cause  for  subjoining  the  complaint,  '  Neverthe- 
less, I  have  somewhat  against  thee.'  There  are  few 
Sessions  in  which  some  members  are  not  comparatively 
inefficient;  even  the  best  have  need  of  improvement ; 
and  the  instances  are  not  rare  where  the  eldership  of 
a  congregation  are  generally  remiss  in  the  discharge 
of  important  obligations,  to  be  afterwards  considered. 
Happily  these  evils  are  nowhere  more  felt  and  la- 
mented than  among  the  class  to  whom  they  attach  ; 
and  a  movement  has  lately  commenced  among  them- 
selves to  elevate  the  standard  of  their  own  proficiency. 
This  spontaneous  effort  at  reform  is  of  very  high  con- 
sequence. Any  amelioration  appearing  in  our  churches 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

would  be  questionable  in  its  character,  and  epoemeral 
in  its  duration,  if  it  did  not  include  the  session;  and  if 
it  should  originate  in  the  session,  and  there  strike  deep 
its  roots,  and  fortify  its  upright  stem  with  goodly 
branches,  the  consequent  benefit  would  be  illimitable — 
the  leaves  of  such  a  tree  would  be  for  i  the  healing  of 
the  nations.'  The  ministry  would  be  stimulated  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  people  on  the  other ;  classes, 
schools,  missionary  societies,  all  beneficent  institutions, 
would  feel  the  impress  of  a  new  energy,  the  glow  of  a 
new  life,  and  many  a  tongue  would  uplift  the  ejacula- 
tion, *  The  time  to  favour  Zion  is  come;  the  time  which 
God  hath  set!' 

Even  a  single  elder  maybe  greatly  influential.  The 
statement  has  two  aspects;  for  he  may  do  great  harm, 
or  great  good.  One  elder  may  do  much  injury.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  this  that  he  be  a  liar,  or  swearer, 
or  drunkard ;  for  such  a  man  would  bring  himself 
under  discipline,  and  could  neither  become  nor  remain 
an  elder  in  any  of  our  churches.  It  is  enough  to 
make  him  worse  than  useless,  that  he  be  an  imprac- 
ticable and  troublesome  individual.  If  such  a  cha- 
racter is  rarely  to  be  found,  yet,  to  complete  a  sketch, 
he  may  at  least  be  supposed.  We  naturally  depict  a 
person  of  this  sort  as  possessing  a  very  good  opinion 
of  himself.  He  may  not  entertain  the  same  favourable 
estimate  of  others,  or  his  very  respect  for  them  may 
secure  them  a  measure  of  his  jealousy  and  ill-will. 
Being  of  a  soured  disposition,  he  may  have  a  morbid 
discontent  with  existing  arrangements  and  regulations, 
and  speak  as  if  all  tilings  were  amiss  for  want  of  his 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

mending.  In  sessional  deliberations  he  may  have 
many  cases  to  bring  forward,  and  motions  to  submit, 
and  speeches  to  make,  and  become  very  wrathful  and 
intractable,  if  any  impatience  be  manifested  under  his 
inflictions.  In  forwarding  his  views,  he  may  commu- 
nicate much  with  those  elders  whom  he  is  most  likely 
to  influence  ;  and  thus  form  something  like  a  party  in 
the  session,  and  then  talk  of  opposite  sides.  If  poorly 
supported  by  his  brethren  in  the  eldership,  he  may  set 
to  work  in  the  congregation,  and  by  ex  parte  represen- 
tations of  what  is  passing,  stir  up  dissatisfaction  there, 
and  then  plead  a  '  pressure  from  without*  in  apology 
for  his  earnestness.  By  no  means  deficient  in  the  love 
of  power,  he  may  feel  as  if  power  were  most  ex- 
pressively shown  in  opposition  :  to  aid  another,  might 
rather  seem  to  him  to  be  weakness.  When  good  pro- 
posals, therefore,  are  made,  and  do  not  emanate 
from  himself,  it  may  be  his  frequent  course  first  to 
doubt  of  them,  and  then  labour  to  defeat  them.  He 
may  be  commendably  devoted  to  the  cause  of  civil 
liberty;  and,  transferring  his  notions  of  political 
abuses  to  ecclesiastical  administration,  and  thinking 
that  the  extravagances  of  the  state  have  all  crept  into 
a  presbyterian  church,  however  spare  may  be  its 
finances  and  economical  its  outlay,  he  may  suppose 
that  he  acts  the  patriot  and  reformer,  in  calling  for 
indiscriminate  retrenchment,  and  frowning  on  every 
kind  and  generous  suggestion.  Yet  this  elder  may  not 
be  without  traits  of  excellence;  or,  as  some  would  say, 
redeeming  qualities.  He  may  be  versed  in  scripture 
— he  may  be  diligent  in   a  good  work  when  it  meets 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

his  mind;  and  no  one  would  feel  entitled  to  pronounce 
him  positively  a  bad  man.  But,  if  an  office-bearer  in 
the  church  have  the  cast  of  mind  which  has  just  been 
indicated,  or  anything  resembling  or  approaching  it, 
he  may  not  only  be  prevented  by  his  temper  from 
accomplishing  much  in  Christ's  cause  himself,  but  be- 
come a  fearful  hinderance  alike  to  sessional  and  con- 
gregational reformation. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  single  elder  may  do  great  good. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  this  that  he  be  a  man  of  extraor- 
dinary powers,  or  of  immense  wealth  ;  nor  must  we 
depict  him,  to  account  for  his  successful  services,  as  a 
paragon  of  moral  excellence.  He  has  his  failings,  but 
he  knows  them  himself,  and  an  humbling  consciousness 
of  them  sheds  a  sobriety  over  his  bearing,  and  inclines 
him  to  be  respectful  in  his  communications  with 
others.  That  abuses  exist,  he  sees  and  deplores;  and 
he  applies  himself,  but  with  the  meekness  of  wisdom, 
to  effect  the  correction  of  them;  and  reckons  it  better, 
in  accomplishing  his  object,  to  avoid  a  battle  than  to 
gain  a  victory.  He  throws  his  soul  into  beneficent 
enterprises,  and  it  takes  the  mould  of  them,  expands 
to  their  capaciousness,  rises  to  their  altitude,  and  re- 
cedes to  their  immeasurable  distance  from  meanness 
and  vice.  In  prosecuting  the  cause  of  Christ,  he  is 
drawn  more  into  fellowship  with  Christ, imbibes  more 
of  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  hence  becomes  more 
thoroughly  christian  in  all  his  views,  feelings,  and 
engagements.  One  can  mark  a  discernible  progress 
in  his  piety.  There  is  a  ripening  aversion  to  evil,  a 
deepening  delight  in  true  goodness,  wherever  found, 


INTRODUCTION.  1 3 

and  a  growing  readiness  for  every  good  work.  Even 
his  friendship,  always  sincere  and  trustworthy,  evinces 
more  of  a  mellowing  kindliness,  a  purer  tone  of  sacred- 
ness  in  its  sympathy,  more  of  that  exquisite  tender- 
heartedness which  'rejoices  with  them  that  rejoice, 
and  weeps  with  them  that  weep.'  How  valuable  is 
such  a  man  to  all  with  whom  the  providence  of  God 
allies  him !  What  a  treasure  is  he  to  a  minister  ! — 
what  a  treasure  to  a  session  ! — what  a  treasure  to  a 
congregation !  While  he  lives,  he  does  far  more  good 
than  is  ever  suspected  by  himself,  or  shall  be  known 
to  others,  till  '  the  day  shall  declare  it ;'  and  when  he 
dies,  good  men  carry  him  to  his  grave,  and  make  great 
lamentation  over  him.  If,  then,  a  single  elder  may 
be  so  influential,  so  perniciously  or  profitably  influ- 
ential, what  importance  should  we  not  attach  to  a 
movement  beginning  with  elders  themselves  to  advance 
the  well-working  of  their  entire  order! 

My  aim,  in  what  follows,  is  humbly  to  contribute  to 
this  result ;  and  happy  shall  I  esteem  myself  if  I  am 
enabled  in  any  measure,  however  small,  to  facilitate 
and  expedite  so  desirable  a  consummation. 

The  design  of  this  Treatise  is  wholly  practical.  It 
may  be  proper,  however,  to  begin  with  a  statement  of 
proof,  since  appeals  have  little  force  when  they  are 
not  based  on  conviction. 


14  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 


PART  I. 

BRIEF  STATEMENT  OF  THE  ARGUMENT  F01    IttK 
OFFICE  OF  RULING  ELDER. 


PRELIMINARY  OBSERVATIONS. 

The  language  now  in  use  makes  a  wide  difrjrence 
between  a  bishop  and  an  elder.  In  scriptural  phraseo- 
logy, these  terms  are  applied  to  one  class  of  office- 
bearers. Paul  sent  for  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  and 
he  exhorted  them  '  to  take  heed  to  all  the  flock  of 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made  them  bishops,'  ren- 
dered in  our  version  *  o\erseers.'  *  Thus  the  identical 
persons  were  called  elders  and  bishops.  The  apostle 
also,  after  instructing  Titus  as  to  the  qualifications 
needed  by  elders,  adds,  '  For  a  bishop  must  be 
blameless.'f  The  term  elder,  used  in  the  first  instance, 
is  immediately  exchanged  for  the  term  bishop,  while 
the  same  Office-bearer  is  described. 

It  must  be  understood  then  and  kept  in  mind,  that 
by  elders  and  bishops  scripture  denotes  one  order  of 
functionaries. 

Scripture  very  explicitly  represents  these  elders  or 
bishops  as  invested  with  authority  over  the  churches. 

*  Acts  xx.  28.  t  Titus  i.  7. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  15 

This  is  admitted  by  the  most  eminent  advocates  of 
Independency.  '  We  have  pastors/  says  Dr  Wardlaw, 
1  over  our  churches,  and  we  regard  them,  in  scripture 
phrase,  as  having  the  rule  over  them.'*  l  The  titles 
of  ruler  and  president,'  says  Dr  Davidson,  '  imply  that 
the  pastors  or  elders  of  a  church  govern,  rule,  or  ex- 
erci  e  authority  over  it;  which  is  farther  evident, 
because  the  people  are  required  to  obey,  to  submit 
themselves  to  them  that  have  the  rule.'f  *  There  is 
authority/  says  Mr  James,  'belonging  to  the  pastor, 
for  office  without  authority  is  a  solecism.  "  Remember 
them  that  have  the  rule  over  you  ;  "  u  obey  them  that 
have  the  rule  over  you;"  "  submit  yourselves,"  etc. 
These  are  inspired  injunctions,  and  they  enjoin  obe- 
dience and  submission,  on  christian  churches,  to  their 
pastors.'} 

*  Cong.  Independency,  p.  311.         f  Eccles.  Polity,  p.  2G9. 
X  Christian  Fellowship,  pp.  56,  57. 

Congregation alists  sometimes  go  farther  than  Presbyterians  are 
able  to  follow  them  in  claiming  power  for  pastors.  Dr  Davidson 
says  :  '  In  meetings  of  the  church,  no  member  should  speak  with- 
out permission  of  the  elders,  nor  continue  to  do  so  when  they 
impose  silence.  The  elders  give  and  withhold  liberty  of  speech 
when  the  church  is  assembled.  In  such  meetings  no  member 
should  oppose  the  judgment  of  the  presiding  elder.' — Ecclesiastical 
Polity,  p.  21  i. 

Mr  James  says:  '  All  the  proceedings  at  a  church  meeting  should 
either  emanate  directly  from  the  pastor,  or  from  others  by  his  pre- 
vious knowledge  and  consent.'  He  gives  the  minister  an  absolute 
negative  on  the  admission  of  members  to  the  church,  and  says : 
'  No  member  should  presume  to  bring  forward  a  candidate  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  opinion  of  the  pastor.' — Christian  Fellowship,  p.  172. 

Dr  Campbell  goes  further,  and  not  only  lodges  with  the  mini- 


16  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Since  all  elders  rule,  they  might  all,  in  this  sense, 
be  called  ruling  elders.  So  a  minister  rules,  and  he  is 
officially  a  ruling  elder.  But  it  is  the  doctrine  of 
Presbyterian  churches  that  some  elders  are  properly, 
and  by  scriptural  warrant,  appointed  only  to  rule; 
while  others  combine  in  their  appointment  both  ruling 
and  teaching.  He  who  both  rules  and  teaches  is  called 
by  us  the  minister  or  the  pastor,  while  they  who  are 
charged  only  with  superintendence  are  the  ruling 
elders.  It  will  be  understood,  then,  that  by  ruling 
elders  are  meant  all  the  members  of  session  who  are 
not  ministers.  I  am  now  to  present  very  briefly  the 
argument  for  a  Ruling  Eldership. 

I.  Each  of  the  primitive  churches  had  a  plurality  of 
elders. 

Independents  were  wont  to  dispute  this  position  ; 
and  both  Mr  Greville  Evving  and  Dr  Bennet  laboured 
to  show  that  scripture  favours  a  one-elder  system,  and 
thus  countenances  the  prevailing  form  of  Indepen- 
dency, which  assigns  to  each  church  a  single  elder, 
who  both  rules  and  teaches.     Primitive  practice  and 

ter  a  negative  on  the  admission  of  members,  but  makes  the  whole 
matter  of  admission  rest  with  himself,  maintaining  that  the  com- 
mission of  Christ  to  his  apostles  clothes  the  evangelist  or  pastor 
at  once  with  the  authority  and  responsibility  of  administering  the 
ordinance  of  baptism,  and  consequently  of  admitting  members.^ 
Church  Felfowship,  p.  19.  No  person  will  suspect  tiiese  able  and 
excellent  writers  of  any  personal  disposition  to  tyrannise  over  the 
church.  They  would  sacriiice  life  itself  for  the  church's  good, 
Their  language  develops  only  the  necessities  of  a  system. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  17 

Independent  practice  were  in  this  manner  harmonised. 
But  there  is  no  point  which  can  be  more  clearly  proved 
from  scripture  than  that  a  company  of  elders  presided 
over  each  of  the  primitive  churches.  Numerous  state- 
ments show  that  this  was  the  rule  ;  and  no  exceptions 
are  recorded.  Paul,  in  addressing  the  Hebrews,  says, 
1  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you.'*  James 
exhorts  him  who  is  sick  to  '  call  for  the  elders  of  the 
church.'f  These  are  individual  instances,  but  we  have 
also  comprehensive  examples.  Paul  says  to  Titus : 
'  For  this  cause  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldst 
set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain 
elders  in  every  city,  as  I  had  appointed  thee.'  J  We 
read  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  that  they  '  ordained  elders 
in  every  church.'  § 

Our  leading  Congregationalists  now  admit  that  a 
plurality  of  elders  for  each  church  is  the  primitive 
system.  My  friend  Dr  Wardlaw  quotes  from  me  these 
sentences  :  '  Whenever  a  number  of  persons  were  con- 
verted under  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  or  their 
fellow-labourers,  these  converts  were  formed  into  a 
society,  and  obtained  for  their  stated  and  proper  offi- 
cers, bishops  and  deacons.  Only  some  churches  were 
favoured  with  the  ministrations  of  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists, and  these  churches  enjoyed  that  distinction 
only  for  limited  periods  and  at  remote  intervals ;  but 
every  church,  no  matter  when  planted  or  by  whom 
watered,  or  to  what  country  belonging,  had  bishops 

*  Heb.  xiii.  17.  t  James  v.  14.  X  Titus  i.  5. 

§  Acts  xiv.  23. 


18  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

and  deacons  for  its  fixed  and  abiding  office-bearers/  * 
Dr  Wardlaw  says  that  '  he  could  not  wish  his  senti- 
ments more  clearly  expressed  than  in  these  sentences  ;' 
and  it  will  be  observed  that  they  declare  every  church 
to  have  had  bishops,  and  not  a  bishop  merely.  Dr 
Vaughan  says,  'The  existence  of  such  a  practice  in  all 
the  early  churches  whose  usage  in  this  respect  has 
become  known  to  us,  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  enough 
to  justify  suspicion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  our  own  pre- 
valent usage.'f  { Nothing  seems  to  us  more  certain,' 
says  Dr  Davidson,  '  than  that  there  was  a  plurality  of 
elders  in  the  primitive  churches.  The  fact  is  admit- 
ted by  the  ablest  historians.'  J 

Since  then  every  church  in  the  apostolic  age  had  a 
company  of  elders,  the  same  usage  should  still  pre- 
vail ;  for  as  Dr  Wardlaw  observes,  '  What  was  actu- 
ally done  under  apostolic  direction,  has  the  same  force 
of  authority  with  an  express  command  to  do  it — the 
force,  that  is,  of  the  authority  of  Christ.'§  Not  a  little 
still  remains  to  be  proved  as  to  the  scriptural  charac- 
ter of  our  elders  ;  but  the  proof  already  offered  esta- 
blishes this  much,  that  a  church  having  a  plurality  of 
elders  may  be  in  the  right ;  while  a  church  with  one 
elder,  like  our  Independent  churches,  must  be  in  the 
wrong. 

Dr  Davidson  admits  and  urges  that  Independents 
are  in  the  wrong ;  but  contends  that  we  err  too,  be- 


*  Congregational  Independency,  pp.  177,  178. 
t  Congregationalism,  p.  1 83.  J  Eccles.  Polity,  p.  357. 

§  Congregational  Independency,  p.  4. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  19 

cause  all  elders  he  thinks  should  be  pastors,  and 
empowered  to  teach  as  well  as  rule.  This  is  his 
scheme  of  eldership  ;  and  we  earnestly  wish  that  he 
could  prevail  on  his  religious  denomination  to  reduce 
it  to  practice.  It  is  our  firm  conviction  that  they 
cannot  institute  a  plurality  of  elders,  and  not  pass 
into  our  usage.  A  number  of  competent  pastors  will 
not  be  found  for  every  one  of  many  small  and  poor 
churches.  Soon  the  preaching  will  be  in  the  hands  of 
one  or  two,  who  can  sustain  attention  and  impart  in- 
struction ;  and  the  rest  of  the  elders  will  be  glad  to  retire 
from  pulpit  occupation  for  which  they  are  not  fitted, 
and  to  restrict  themselves  to  the  work  of  superintend- 
ence, which  they  can  perform  acceptably.  Here  then 
is  a  sure  avenue  to  practical  agreement.  Let  us  all 
follow  out  our  common  admission,  that  each  church 
should  have  a  company  of  elders.  Dr  Wardlaw,  after 
quoting  Dr  M'Kerrow  and  myself,  in  regard  to  the 
deaconship,  and  commending  the  steps  taken  by 
Presbyterian  churches  to  have  that  institution  re- 
stored, says  :  *  Could  we  find  authority  for  the  office  o* 
the  ruling  elder,  we  trust  we  should  have  grace  to 
follow  out  our  convictions.'  *  But  Dr  Wardlaw  finds 
at  least  authority  for  a  company  of  elders.  With  all 
respect  we  would  say,  Let  him  and  his  brethren  fol- 
low out  that  conviction.  Call  them  teaching  elders, 
or  call  them  ruling  elders ;  if  they  are  appointed, 
they  will  ere  long  be  such  elders  as  we  have  ourselves. 
There  will  not  long  be  a  college  of  ministers  in  any 

*  Page  192. 


20  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

one  oi  the  chapels  occupied  by  the  ablest  Congre- 
gationalist  churches;  how  much  less  in  small  places 
of  worship  throughout  the  country!  We  beseech 
our  Independent  brethren  to  bear  with  our  earnest- 
ness on  this  topic.  The  primitive  practice  is  plain  : 
the  authority  of  apostolic  example  is  admitted.  It  is 
not  allowed  us  to  live  in  opposition  to  scripture,  and 
make  no  movement  even  towards  acquiescence  in  its 
dictates.  Let  Congrcgationalists  escape  from  this 
confessedly  unscriptural  state,  and  proceed  forthwith 
to  get  a  numerous  eldership.  We  ask  nothing  but  a 
fulfilment  of  their  own  views,  to  secure  identity  with 
our  practice.  If  they  still  say  nay,  we  still  say — 
make  the  attempt,  and  we  cheerfully  await  the  result 
of  the  experiment. 

But  if  a  plurality  of  elders,  whether  called  preach- 
ing or  ruling,  would  conduct  in  our  days  to  Presby- 
terian usage,  should  it  not  have  done  this  in  the  apos- 
tolic age  ?  That  it  actually  did  so,  I  hope  to  make 
apparent. 

II.  Some  of  the  elders  of  the  primitive  churches 
simply  ruled,  while  others  both  ruled  and  taught ;  so 
that  a  distinction  existed  among  them  of  teaching  and 
ruling  elders. 

I  adduce  at  present  one  passage,  as  decisive  of  the 
point  at  issue.  Paul  says,  in  his  first  Epistle  to  Ti- 
mothy, v.  17,  'Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be 
counted  worthy  of  double  honour,  especially  they  who 
labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine.'  Regarding  this 
passage,  I  formerly  observed:    'These  words  could 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  21 

suggest  to  an  unbiassed  reader  only  one  meaning, 
that  all  elders  who  rule  well  are  worthy  of  abundant 
honour,  but  especially  those  of  their  number  who, 
besides  ruling  well,  also  labour  in  word  and  doctrine. 
Of  course  the  passage  so  interpreted  bears,  that  of  the 
elders  who  rule  well,  only  some  labour  in  word  and 
doctrine ;  that  is,  there  are  ruling  elders,  and  among 
these  teaching  elders,  as  we  have  at  the  present 
day/ 

The  meaning  of  this  passage  turns  on  the  force  of 
the  word  'especially;'  and  I  have  no  great  objec- 
tions to  the  definition  of  it  given  by  Dr  Wardlaw. 
He  says:  'According  to  what  may,  I  think,  be  called 
invariable  usage,  it  must  be  understood  as  represent- 
ing those  who  are  described  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
verse,  as  comprehended  under  the  more  general  de- 
scription in  the  former — not  as  a  distinct  class  of 
persons,  but  a  select  portion  of  the  same  class,  dis- 
tinguished by  a  specified  particularity.'  *  Be  it  so. 
The  *  general  description '  of  elders  is,  that  they  are 
all  rulers — ministers  are  included  in  this  description — 
and  the  '  specified  particularity '  by  which  some  are 

*  distinguished '  from  the  rest  is,  that,  besides  ruling, 
'  they  labour  in  word  and  doctrine.'  Dr  Wardlaw 
gives  an  example,  which  I  admit  to  be  quite  in  point : 

*  We  trust  in  the  living  God,  who  is  the  Saviour  (or 
Preserver)  of  all  men,  specially  of  those  that  believe.'f 
1  Those  that  believe,'  says  Dr  Wardlaw,  '  are  in- 
cluded among  the  all  men,  but  distinguished  from  the 

*  Congregational  Independency,  p.  213. 

t  1  Tim.  iv.  10. 

B 


22  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

rest  by  their  faith.'*  Exactly  so — and  they  who 
labour  in  word  and  doctrine  are  included  among  them 
that  rule  well,  but  *  distinguished  from  the  rest '  by 
their  teaching.  If  the  word  '  specially '  may  mark 
off  from  men  in  general  a  section  possessing  faith, 
surely  it  may  mark  off  from  rulers  in  general  a 
section  who  teach,  and  are  distinguished  from 
the  rest  by  teaching ;  for  this  latter  distinction, 
considerable  as  it  is,  is  nothing  in  comparison 
with  the  gulf  between  a  believer  and  an  infidel. 
We  maintain,  then,  that  all  elders  rule,  and  that 
some  are  distinguished  from  the  rest  by  also 
teaching. 

Dr  Davidson,  after  quoting  my  remarks  (given 
above)  on  I  Tim.  v.  I7,f  says:  'Few  would  object 
to  this  reasoning,  understood  in  its  obvious  sense, 
for  a  distinction  is  manifestly  implied  between  those 
elders  that  rule  well,  and  those  who  labour  in  word 
and  doctrine.' J  He  speaks  of  Presbyterians  as  *  prov- 
ing that  some  elders  in  the  primitive  churches  ruled, 
while  others  preached.'  '  That,'  he  adds,  '  is  a  posi- 
tion too  manifest  to  be  called  in  question.  Other 
parts  of  the  New  Testament  would  warrant  that  con- 
clusion, had  the  text  in  the  Epistle  to  Timothy  been 
wanting.' §  Here,  then,  the  matter  of  fact  is  con- 
ceded to  us.  It  is  acknowledged  that  our  churches 
resemble  the  primitive  churches  not  only  in  having 
each  a  plurality  of  elders,  but  also  in  having  some 

*  Congregational  Independency,  p.  214. 

f  See  page  20. 

X  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  p.  183.  §  Ibid.,  p.  186. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  23 

elders  who  confine  themselves  to  ruling,  and  others 
who  perform  the  duties  of  teaching. 

What,  then,  is  the  difference  between  us  and  Dr 
Davidson,  and  wherein  does  he  think  that  we  are 
wrong?  He  thinks  that  though  some  of  the  primitive 
elders  only  ruled,  they  were  entitled  to  preach.  He 
holds  that  '  the  nature  of  the  distinction  is  merely  such 
as  arises  from  the  possession  of  various  talents, 
directed  to  the  discharge  of  different  duties,  while  all 
have  an  equal  right  to  perform  the  same  functions.'  * 
The  sum  of  this  statement  is,  that  the  elders  who  did 
not  preach  possessed  the  right  to  do  so,  but  wanted 
the  talents;  and  so  they  had  been  appointed  to 
functions  for  which  their  talents  did  not  qualify  them. 
They  were  appointed  to  preach  when  they  could  not 
preach ;  and  they  receded  from  a  duty  they  had 
undertaken,  because  they  failed  in  the  attempt  to 
discharge  it.     This  doctrine  seems  strange. 

We  have  sometimes  difficulty  in  getting  elders. 
If  we  told  men  of  eminent  but  modest  worth  that 
their  appointment  would  include  preaching  as  well  as 
ruling,  they  would  not  likely  be  quicker  to  enter  the 
office ;  nor  should  we  overcome  their  objections  proba- 
bly by  telling  them,  *  You  have  only  to  be  appointed 
to  preach,  and  then  neglect  this  duty  to  which  you 
have  been  solemnly  set  apart,  for  this  conduct  was 
quite  common  in  the  apostolic  churches.'  I  prefer  to 
believe  that  the  elders  severally  did  what  they  were 
severally  appointed  to  do — that  their  practice  corres- 

*  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  p.  1 83. 


24  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

ponded  with  their  appointment,  and  is  to  us  explana- 
tory of  their  commission.  I  think  I  might  stop  here, 
but  the  concessions  of  our  Congregationalist  brethren 
encourage  me  to  go  farther. 

III.  In  the  primitive  churches  some  elders  were 
appointed  simply  to  rule  and  not  to  preach. 

The  best  authorities  are  agreed,  that,  in  the  first 
instance,  the  office  of  the  eldership  had  respect  only 
to  superintendence.  Thus,  Neander  says  of  elders, 
'  They  were  originally  chosen,  as  in  the  synagogue, 
not  so  much  for  the  instruction  and  edification  of  the 
church  as  for  taking  the  lead  in  its  general  manage- 
ment.'* I  might  state  at  length  the  grounds  of  this 
opinion,  and  cite  other  high  names  by  which  it  has 
been  countenanced.  But  as  Dr  Davidson  admits  the 
fact,  I  need  not  spend  time  in  proving  admissions.  He 
quotes  with  approbation  the  saying  of  Neander,  that 
'the  Tpo&r^vai  and  the  xvfispvav  (ruling  and  governing) 
evidently  exhaust  what  belonged  from  the  beginning  to 
the  office  of  presbyter  or  bishop,  and  for  which  it  was 
originally  instituted.'  f  Here  Dr  Davidson  concedes 
that  there  were  elders  who  were  appointed  not  to  preach 
but  to  rule  and  govern,  and  whose  office  was  exhausted 
by  these  characteristics.;):    He  thinks  that  some  having 

*  Planting  of  the  Christian  Church,  p.  42. 
t  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  p.  193. 
X  In  various  passages  of  his  work,  Dr  Davidson  expresses  the 
same  sentiment  qualifiedly.    Thus,  he  says,  p.  1  id,  'All  the  circum- 
stances that  have  relation  to  the  point,  conspire  to  show  that  they 
(elders)  were  chosen,  in  the  first  instance,  mainly  for  government.' 


TI11C  KULlN'.i  ELDERSHIP.  25 

tlie  gift  of  teaching,  came  afterwards  to  be  admitted 
among  the  ruling  eldership,  and  then,  in  the  case  of 
these  persons,  teaching  and  ruling  were  conjoined  in 
the  office.  *  When  the  charism  (of  teaching),  he  says, 
became  an  ordinary  gift,  such  as  might  be  attained  by 
many  christians  in  the  exercise  of  their  abilities,  it  is 
probable  that  these  teachers  were  often  taken  into 
the  college  of  elders,  and  thus  formally  constituted 
officers.'*  Here  is  an  admission  that  at  one  period  of 
the  apostolic  age  there  were  ruling  elders,  strictly  so 
called ;  and  some  introduced  among  them  who  both 
ruled  and  taught  officially.  In  other  words,  the  primi- 
tive churches  were  then  in  the  same  condition,  in 
respect  to  officers,  as  presbyterian  churches  are  now, 
having  ruling  elders,  and  among  them  teaching  elders. 
If  Dr  Davidson  insist  that  none  shall  be  appointed  to 
rule  without  being  appointed  also  to  preach,  we  are 
entitled,  on  his  own  admission,  to  say,  'From  the  be- 
ginning it  was  not  so ;'  and  since  he  confesses  that, 
under  the  direction  of  the  apostles,  elders  were  ap- 
pointed simply  to  superintend,  we  are  entitled  to  ask 
what  has  made  this  practice,  which  was  lawful  once, 
unlawful  now  ?  Where  have  the  apostles  forbidden, 
in  this  particular  province,  a  perseverance  in  their  own 
church  order  ? 

IV.  The  elders  of  the  primitive  churches  had  among 
them  a  president. 

In  like  manner,  the  elders  of  our  churches  have 

*  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  p.  148. 


26  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

their  moderator.  Here  is  another  feature  of  identity 
between  primitive  and  presbyterian  practice.  I  am 
spared  the  necessity  of  lengthened  proof  in  this  case, 
as  in  others,  by  the  concessions  of  Independent  writers. 
The  Rev.  Dr  Halley,  in  his  Congregational  Lecture,* 
says,  *  There  were  in  the  synagogues  certain  men  of 
reputation  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  assem- 
bly, and  called  rulers.  [So,]  in  the  christian  churches, 
officers  were  appointed  who  had  the  rule  over  them. 
.  .  .  The  presiding  officer,  or  the  person  who  publicly 
officiated,  was  called  the  legate  or  angel  of  the  syna- 
gogue :  [soj  each  church  of  Asia  Minor  had  its  angel.' 
It  is  here  admitted  that  the  primitive  churches  had  each 
a  board  of  rulers,  who  were  entrusted  with  direction, 
and  that  there  was  a  presiding  officer,  who  publicly 
officiated.  This  account  perfectly  accords  with  our 
sessional  system,  under  which  we  have  a  company  of 
elders  for  each  church,  and  among  these  a  'presiding 
officer,'  who  '  publicly  officiates  ;'  but  how  it  can  be 
reconciled  with  the  present  state  of  Congregational 
churches,  I  am  unable  to  comprehend. 

Dr  Wardlaw  says,  after  discussing  various  opinions 
about  the  angels  of  the  seven  Asiatic  churches,  'There 
remain  two  suppositions,  in  one  or  other  of  which  it 
appears  we  must  acquiesce.  The  first  is  that  of  those 
who  hold  that  at  that  time  there  was  only  one  pastor, 
elder,  overseer,  or  bishop,  in  each  of  the  seven  churches 
of  Asia.  The  second  is,  that  in  the  eldership  of  these 
churches  there  was  at  that  early  period  in  the  church's 
history  a  president — a  primus  inter  pares — to  whom  it 

*  Page  63. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  27 

is  that  the  epistles  respectively  are  addressed.'*  But 
Dr  Wardlaw  gives  up  with  the  one-elder  explanation, 
and  therefore,  in  his  own  language,  he  '  must  acqui- 
esce' in  the  conclusion  that  the  elders  of  a  primitive 
church  had  a  president  among  them.  Dr  Davidson 
attaches  little  consequence  to  the  matter ;  but  he  is 
willing  that  '  one  person  among  the  elders  be  invested 
with  perpetual  presidency,  by  a  voluntary  arrange- 
ment on  the  part  of  all.'  f  Our  Congregational  bre- 
thren are  very  liberal  to  us.  They  have  given  us  for 
each  church  a  company  of  elders.  They  have  given 
us  ruling  elders  and  teaching  elders.  They  have 
given  us  elders  expressly  appointed  to  rule  only. 
And,  finally,  they  have  supplied  us  with  a  moderator 
for  each  of  our  sessions.  I  do  not  perceive  how  these 
concessions  can  be  explained  away ;  and  they  leave 
little  to  be  demanded  or  established  by  us  on  behalf 
of  our  sessional  system. 

V.  The  practice  of  churches  shows  that  there  is  r 
felt  necessity  for  ruling  elders. 

Even  those  who  speak  against  them  cannot  dispense 
with  them ;  they  will  transform  nominal  deacons  into 
actual  eUers,  rather  than  want  them.  '  It  belongs  to 
the  duty  of  the  deacon,'  says  Dr  Wardlaw,  '  to  accom- 
pany the  supply  of  the  means  of  comfortable  subsis- 
tence with  such  words  of  soothing  consolation  and 
encouragement,  or  of  salutary  admonition,  as  the  po- 
verty supplied,  or  the  affliction  relieved,  or  the  cir- 

*  Congregational  Independency,  pp.  174,  175. 
t  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  page  38. 


28  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

cumstances  and  character  of  the  individual  or  the 
family  may  require,  and,  at  the  same  time,  by  pra}rer 
and  thanksgiving,  to  draw  out  the  gratitude,'  *  etc. 
Here  we  have  the  sick  calling  for  the  deacons,  instead 
of  the  elders  of  the  church,  and  we  have  deacons,  in 
lieu  of  elders,  praying  over  the  sick. 

But  surely  Dr  Wardlaw  does  not  mean  to  say,  that 
his  description  bounds  the  spiritual  duties  actually 
assigned  to  deacons.  Is  it  not  the  case,  that  they  visit 
the  sick  just  as  elders  do,  whether  alms  are  to  be 
given  or  not  ?  Is  it  not  the  fact,  that  they  prepare 
matters  of  judgment  for  the  final  sentence  of  the 
church — a  duty  which  Drs  Wardlaw  and  Davidson 
assign  expressly  to  ministers?  Is  it  not  so,  that  they 
examine  applicants  for  admission  into  church  fellow- 
ship, and  announce  hours  of  meeting  for  that  object? 
And  if  deacons  do  all  this,  what  can  elders  do  more? 
We  have  seen  deacons  of  late  discharging  still  higher 
functions  in  Scotland.  Congregationalists  in  England 
make  no  secret  of  the  fact,  that  in  many  instances 
their  deacons  get  all  the  work  of  elders,  at  least. 

1  It  is  true,'  says  the  Rev.  J.  A.  James  of 
Birmingham,  '  that  by  the  usages  of  our  churches 
many  things  have  been  added  to  the  duties  of  the 
office  (of  deacon)  beyond  its  original  design;  but 
this  is  mere  matter  of  expediency.' f  What,  then, 
are  some  of  the  things  which  have  been  added  to  the 
deacon's  proper  functions?  'A  multitude  of  duties,' 
says  Dr  Campbell,  of  the  Tabernacle,  London,   '  con- 

*  Page  143.  |  Christian  Fellowship,  p.  130. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  29 

nected  with  the  worship  and  the  house  of  God,  have 
been  attached  to  the  office  as  a  matter  of  conve- 
nience and  utility.  This  scheme  is  without  any 
express  scripture  authority ;  and  we  think  that  the 
scriptures  permit,  if  they  do  not  require,  an  arrange- 
ment somewhat  different.  We  are  most  decidedly  in 
favour  of  a  division  of  labour.'*  Here  we  learn  that 
deacons  are  made  to  perform  a  '  multitude  of  duties 
connected  with  the  worship  and  the  house  of  God;' 
in  other  words,  they  are  made  spiritual  office-bearers, 
like  our  elders.  They  do  the  work  of  elders  and  their 
own  too  ;  and,  with  the  eloquent  author  just  cited,  we 
are  decidedly  in  favour  of  a  division  of  labour.  The 
same  author  says  of  these  officers,  i  that  they  have  a 
right  to  the  affectionate  confidence  of  the  pastor.  He  will 
wisely  and  prudently  consider  and  treat  them  as  his 
privy  council;  he  will  make  them  parties  to  all  his 
spiritual  concerns ;  and  they,  in  turn,  will  cleave  to 
him  with  an  affectionate  fidelity,  cheerfully  sharing 
with  him  the  responsibility,  and  feeling  it  an  honour 
to  bear  his  burdens.'  Would  not  this  be  a  very  good 
description  of  a  minister  and  his  session  ?  '  They 
have  a  right,  secondly,'  says  Dr  Campbell,  '  to  the 
respectful  and  implicit  confidence  of  the  people.  This  is 
essential  to  the  p:  opei  discharge  of  their  duties.  Let 
the  people  support  their  authority  by  all  proper 
means.  ...  It  belongs  to  them  in  every  good 
work  to  lead  the  way  ;  and,  while  they  lead  in  truth 
and  love,  the  people  should  promptly  folio w.'f     Did 

*  Church  Fellowship,  p.  GO.  t  Page  62. 


30  THE  RULING  ELDERSniP. 

we  ever  ask  a  more  comprehensive  or  authoritative 
guidance  for  the  ruling  elder?  But  Dr  Campbell 
assigns  duties  to  deacons  which,  in  our  Presbyterian 
congregations,  would  not  be  tolerated  in  any  office- 
bearer. '  When  additions  are  made  to  office,'  he 
says,  '  in  churches  already  organised,  considerations 
of  peace  and  prudence  require  that  the  nomination 
should  lie  with  the  existing  officers,  with  the  privity 
of  the  pastors.  They  are  the  fittest  persons  to  select 
appropriate  colleagues:  they  know  the  duty;  they 
know  the  people;  they  know  the  talents,  tempers, 
and,  in  some  measure,  the  characters  of  individuals ; 
they  know  the  men  who  will  be  likely  to  work  in 
efficient  harmony  with  the  pastor  and  with  them- 
selves :  they  will  generally  be  able  to  anticipate  the 
popular  choice,  and  to  fix  on  whom  the  people  would 
fix,  while  their  more  extended  and  accurate  know- 
ledge will  enable  them  occasionally  to  avoid  fixing 
where  the  people  would  fix  unwisely  and  unsafely.' 
Among  us,  this  scheme  of  preconcerted  and  official 
nomination  to  scriptural  office  would  be  reckoned  a 
most  serious  interference  with  popular  election. 
'  Every  pastor  among  us  (says  the  Rev.  Cotton 
Mather,  one  of  the  early  Independent  ministers  of 
New  England)  will  allow  me  that  there  is  much  work 
to  be  done  for  God  in  preparing  of  what  belongs  to 
the  admission  and  exclusion  of  church  members,  in 
carefully  inspecting  the  way  and  walk  of  them  all,  and 
the  first  appearance  of  evil  with  them,  in  preventing 
the  very  beginnings  of  ill  blood  among  them,  and  in- 
structing of  all  from  house  to  house  more  privately, 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  31 

and  warning  of  all  persons  unto  the  things  more  pe- 
culiarly incumbent  on  them;  in  visiting  all  the  afflicted, 
and  informing  of,  and  consulting  with  the  ministers 
for  the  welfare  of  the  whole  flock.  .  .  .  Moreover, 
they  will  acknowledge  to  me  that  it  is  an  usual  thing 
for  a  prudent  and  faithful  pastor  himself  to  single 
out  some  of  the  more  grave,  solid,  aged  brethren  in 
his  congregation,  to  assist  him  in  many  parts  of  this 
work  on  many  occasions  in  a  year ;  nor  will  such  a 
pastor  ordinarily  do  any  important  thing  in  his 
government,  without  having  first  heard  the  counsel 
of  such  brethren.  In  short,  there  are  few  discreet 
pastors  but  what  make  many  occasional  ruling  elders 
every  year.  .  ,  .  What  objection  can  be  made 
against  the  lawfulness  ?  I  think  none  can  be  made 
against  the  usefulness  of  such  a  thing.  Truly,  for  my 
part,  if  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  first  epistle  to  Timothy 
would  not  bear  me  out,  when  conscience  both  of  my 
duty  and  my  weakness  made  me  desire  such  assist- 
ance, I  would  see  whether  the  first  chapter  of  Deute- 
rcnomy  would  not.  Such  things  as  these  have  been 
offered  unto  the  consideration  of  the  diversely  per- 
suaded ;  and,  accordingly,  in  a  meeting  of  ministers 
that  had  been  diversely  persuaded  in  this  matter,  at 
Cambridge,  an  unanimous  vote  was  passed  for  these 
conclusions.'  * 

Whatever  these  agents,  having  '  a  multitude  of 
duties  attached  to  their  office  connected  with  the 
worship   and   the   house   of  God/    may    be   called, 

*  Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England,  book  v.  page  41. 


32  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

and  whatever  they  may  be  considered,  they  have 
in  truth  the  engagements  of  spiritual  office,  and 
want  only  the  encouragement  of  its  sanctions  to 
lighten  their  burdens  and  promote  their  success.  Is 
it  to  be  supposed  that  Christ  would  impose  such  duties 
on  any  section  of  his  servants,  and  yet  deny  them 
the  benefit  of  an  express  and  authoritative  commis- 
sion ?  His  church  has  to  be  superintended  as  cer- 
tainly as  his  gospel  has  to  be  preached ;  and  shall  he 
not,  then,  furnish  credentials  to  them  that  rule  well, 
as  he  confessedly  does  to  them  who  labour  in  word 
and  doctrine? 

VI.  Historical  testimony  is  in  favour  of  a  Ruling 
Eldership. 

This  argument  might  be  stated  at  great  length. 
Here  I  shall  adduce  only  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
convincing  attestations. 

Justin  Martyr,  a  christian  philosopher,  converted 
about  the'  year  132,  and  martyred  about  163,  has 
occasion,  in  his  pleadings  for  the  persecuted  chris- 
tians, to  give  repeated  descriptions  of  their  worship. 
A  resolute  opponent  of  the  ruling  eldership  (the  late 
Dr  Wilson  of  Philadelphia,)  thus  translates  one  of 
these  passages:  'Upon  that,  which  is  called  the  day 
of  the  Sun,  there  is  an  assembling  together  of  all  of  the 
respective  cities,  or  residing  in  the  country;  and  the 
recollections  of  the  apostles,  and  the  writings  of  all 
the  prophets  are  read,  as  long  as  time  permits ;  when 
the  reader  has  ceased,  he  who  presides,  6  crgosc™;,  by 
a  discourse,  bia  Xoyov,  admonishes  and  exhorts  to  the 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  33 

imitation  of  things  that  are  good.  We  then  all  rise 
up  together,  and  offer  prayer,  and  as  already 
mentioned,  when  the  prayer  is  ended,  bread  is 
brought,  and  wine  and  water.  And  he  who  has  the 
first  place,  6  irgoetfrus,  again  prays  and  gives  thanks 
according  to  his  ability,  btsri  dvva/uig  auroj,  and  the 
people  add  their  approbation,  saying,  Amen.  And  a 
distribution  and  a  delivery  of  the  things,  upon  which 
thanks  have  been  given,  are  made  to  all,  and  sent  to 
those  who  are  absent  by  the  deacons.'  He  then 
speaks  of  the  lifting  of  a  collection  for  widows, 
orphans,  prisoners,  and  strangers, — which  is  deposited 
crapa   ry  KpoeGrwri,   '  with  the  president.'  * 

Dr  Wilson  agrees  with  us,  that  each  church  had  a 
number  of  presbyters,  and  here  he  quotes  a  passage 
from  Justin  Martyr,  which  bears,  that  only  one  of 
these  administered  the  word  and  sacraments.  Is  this 
authority,  then,  against  us?  It  has  more  the  aspect 
surely  of  being  on  our  side.  If,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr 
Wilson,  the  elders  had  presided  by  turns,  there  would 
have  been  room  for  alleging,  that  now  one  conducted 
worship,  and  now  another,  and  that  they  were  all 
public  teachers.  But  he  looks  on  the  presidency  as 
having  been  a  permanent  distinction,  and  tells  us, 
that  in  the  primitive  ages  'it  was  accounted  one 
characteristic  of  the  orthodoxy  of  a  church,  that  it 
could  show  a  line  of  presiding  presbyters  or  bishops 
from  the  days  of  the  apostles,'  (p.  92.)  The  amount 
of  this  testimony  therefore  is,  that  each  church  had  a 
company  of  elders,  and  that  one  of  these  presided  at 
*  Primitive  Government  of  Christian  Churches,  |>.  19. 


34  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

meetings  of  his  brethren,  and  conducted  the  public 
worship  of  the  Lord's-day. 

This  testimony  of  Justin  Martyr  is  in  every  view 
highly  important.  He  is  a  very  early  writer.  He 
was  a  man  of  extensive  and  accurate  information. 
He  professedly  described  the  condition  and  worship, 
not  of  a  single  congregation,  but  in  general,  of  chris- 
tian churches.  And  Dr  Wilson  admits,  '  that  when 
he  wrote  his  two  apologies  for  the  christians  which 
were  within  fifty  years  of  John,  there  were  only 
presbyters,  whereof  one  in  each  church  was  the 
presiding  presbyter,  who  administered  the  eucharist, 
and  deacons,  who  carried  it  to  the  people,'  (p.  227.) 
Dr  Wilson  should  have  said,  that  one  in  each  church 
preached,  prayed,  and  administered  the  eucharist ;  for 
all  these  duties  are  equally  ascribed  to  one  function- 
ary. Each  church  had  then  a  number  of  elders,  of 
whom  one  only  conducted  public  worship.  What 
evidence,  not  inspired,  could  be  more  decisive  of  the 
question  at  issue  ? 

If  it  be  said,  that  more  than  one  elder  certainly 
preached  in  some  of  the  churches ;  the  reply  is  easy, 
that  some  churches  have  two  or  more  ministers  still, 
and  along  with  them  a  company  of  ruling  elders. 

I  might  adduce  like  testimonies  from  Cyprian, 
Bishop  of  Carthage,  who  embraced  Christianity  in 
246  ;  from  Origen,  who  was  born  at  Alexandria  185  ; 
from  Hilary,  deacon  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  who 
wrote  in  the  fourth  century  ;  and  from  Augustin  in 
the  fourth  century,  whose  writings  show  at  least  that 
he  and  many  other  pastors  had  elders  who  did  not 


THE  RULING  KLDERSH1P.  35 

preach  associated  with  them  in  the  superintendence 
of  their  flocks. 

I  will  notice  three  objections  to  the  system  of 
ruling  elders.  They  seem  to  me  the  only  objections 
that  have  any  plausibility. 

1.  Paul  requires  that  a  bishop  be  '  apt  to  teach.'* 
Does  not  this  show  that  all  bishops  should  be  teach- 
ing bishops? — I  answer,  first,  that  there  are  various 
kinds  of  teaching,  and  that  all  elders  have  need  of  apt- 
ness to  communicate  instruction  in  various  ways.  They 
should  be  apt  to  train  the  young,  to  comfort  the  sor? 
rowful,  to  convince  the  gainsaying.  I  answer,  se- 
condly, that  Dr  Davidson,  and  others  who  think  with 
him,  have  quite  as  urgent  reason  to  understand  the 
teaching  in  this  modified  sense  as  we  can  have.  It  is 
Dr  Davidson's  theory  that  though  all  the  primitive 
elders  had  a  right  to  preach,  some  of  them  did  not 
exercise  the  right,  because  they  wanted  the  requisite 
talents.  Why  then,  if  public  teaching  be  meant,  did 
Paul  declare  aptness  to  teach  to  be  indispensable,  and 
yet  ordain  men  to  the  office  by  whom  no  such  qualifi- 
cations were  possessed  ?  The  door  of  escape  which 
will  give  Dr  Davidson  relief  from  this  difficulty,  will 
suffice  for  our  release  also. 

2.  When  Paul  requires  double  or  ample  honour  for 
elders  that  rule  well,  this  honour  is  explained  to  mean 
salary,  or  pecuniary  remuneration  ;  and  it  is  argued 
that  salary  would  not  have  been  asked  for  any  elders 
but  preaching  elders.  . 

*  1  Tim.  iii.  2, 


36  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

On  this  subject  I  formerly  said :  It  must  be 
admitted  that  the  word  translated  '  honour/  does 
sometimes  denote  pay  or  wages,  and  that  the  allu- 
sions which  follow,  to  the  feeding  of  the  ox  and 
the  rewarding  of  the  labourer,  seem  to  favour  this 
interpretation.  Some  of  the  best  expositors,  however, 
quite  independently  of  the  question  now  agitated, 
think  this  a  low  and  narrow  explanation  of  the  lan- 
guage. They  understand  the  apostle  to  say,  that  the 
office-bearers  mentioned  ought  to  be  honoured  in  a 
way  becoming  them,  as  the  ox  and  the  labourer  have 
their  appropriate  remuneration.  But  it  must  be  care- 
fully observed,  that  this  question  about  the  meaning 
of  'honour.'  does  not  affect  in  the  slightest  degree 
the  countenance  which  this  passage  apparently  ren- 
ders to  the  distinction  of  teaching  and  ruling  elders. 
Grant  that  honour  means  pecuniary  reward.  The 
apostle,  on  this  supposition,  enjoins,  that  ample  recom- 
pense be  given  to  elders  who  spend  a  proportion  of  their 
time  in  ruling  well,  and  especially  to  those  elders  who 
occupy  themselves  more  entirely  with  the  affairs  of 
the  church,  by  not  only  ruling  well,  but  also  labouring 
in  word  and  doctrine.  Where  the  office-bearers  were 
pcor  men,  as  most  of  them  are  known  to  have  been, 
there  was  nothing  in  this  equitable  compensation  for 
lost  time  very  unreasonable  or  improbable,  and  no- 
thing, certainly,  to  obliterate  that  distinction  between 
ruling  and  teaching  elders  which  the  language  of  the 
apostle  so  clearly  expresses.  Surely  the  functions  of 
elders  are  one  thing,  and  the  fittest  mode  of  honouring 
them  another. 


THE   RULING  ELDERSHIP.  37 

Having  quoted  the  above  passage,  Dr  Wardlaw  says, 
*  I  have  only  to  ask,  for  here  lies  my  argument,  whether 
from  any  other  passages  than  this,  any  precept  or 
example  can  be  brought  for  the  remuneration  in  the 
way  of  maintenance  of  any  officer  of  the  church 
besides  such  as  preached  the  gospel?'  *  In  reply,  I 
observe — (1)  That  scripture  nowhere  says  public 
teachers  alone  shall  be  remunerated  for  their  labours. 
(2)  Much  of  the  language  of  Paul  on  this  subject 
would  apply  equally  to  ruling  as  to  teaching  elders. 
He  lays  down  the  principle,  that  they  who  sow 
spiritual  things  may  reap  carnal  things ;  and  the 
office  of  ruling  elder  is  spiritual,  in  its  character  and 
services,  (b)  Paul  reverts  in  his  argument  to  the 
ancient  economy,  under  which  support  was  provided 
for  'those  who  ministered  about  holy  things,'  although 
they  might  have  no  charge  of  preaching.  (4)  Paul,  so 
far  from  restricting  his  doctrine  about  remuneration 
to  a  particular  department  of  work,  lays  down  the  ge- 
neral maxim  (in  immediate  connection  with  1  Tim.  v. 
17),  that  the  'labourer  is  worthy  of  his  reward.' 
Who  can  wonder  after  this,  that  he  should  claim  a 
pecuniary  acknowledgment  for  poor  elders,  sacrificing 
their  business  in  superintending  the  church  ? 

But  the  question,  whatever  force  it  may  have,  may 
be  addressed  to  Dr  Davidson  with  equal  propriety  as 
to  myself.  He  maintains  that  though  all  elders  might 
have  taught  publicly,  many  of  them  did  not  so  teach. 
Why  then  did  Paul  claim  compensation  for  these, 
when  they  did  not  'preach  the  gospel?'    Would  they 

*  Conpp-fgfitionnl  Independency, p.  210. 
C 


38  THE  KULING  ELDERSHIP. 

be  paid  for  holding  functions  which  they  did  not 
fulfil? 

Let  us  suppose  that  Dr  Wardlaw  and  Dr  Davidson 
carry  into  effect  their  own  view,  of  having  a  company 
of  pastors  with  preaching  talents,  or  without  them, 
for  each  church.  Would  all  the^e  pastors  get 
abundant  pay?  Dr  Davidson  thinks  that  such  muni- 
ficence would  be  unnecessary.  He  thinks  that,  in- 
stead of  double  pay,  half  pay  might  suffice  in 
many  instances.  Nay,  in  a  proportion  of  cases,  he 
would  withhold  pecuniary  honour  altogether.  He 
says,  '  all  need  not  be  supported  by  the  church.'  * 
And  when  Congregationalists  shall  have  got  elders  as 
we  have,  'not  supported  by  the  church, *  how  shall  an 
objection  brought  against  our  practice  be  inapplicable 
to  their  own  ? 

3.  It  is  objected  that  the  system  of  ruling  eldership 
does  not  work  well,  and  that  our  elders  in  general 
are  equally  incompetent  to  teach  and  to  govern. 

I  have  not  claimed  infallibility  for  elders.  In  poor 
districts  of  the  country,  a  difficulty  is  sometimes  expe- 
rienced in  getting  men  who  have  time  and  attainments 
suitable  for  the  office.  But  these  are  the  very  cases  in 
which  it  would  be  still  more  difficult  to  engage  and  sup- 
port a  plurality  of  teaching  presbyters.  In  many  parts 
of  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  towns,  elders  are 
invaluable;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  whether 
the  eldership  or  the  ministry  be  most  essential  to  the 
prosperity  of  our  churches.     What  shall  we  think 

*  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  p.  369. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  39 

then  of  such  charges  as  the  following  being  brought 
against  them  by  Dr  Davidson  ?  '  Judging  from  the 
actual  duties  done  by  ruling  elders,  we  should  say  that 
their  services  deserve  no  remuneration.  As  far  as  our 
observation  has  reached,  the  majority  are  the  tools  of 
the  bishop.  In  church  courts  they  commonly  vote  as 
he  votes.  His  sentiments  are  their  sentiments.  Even 
when  inclined  to  think  and  act  independently,  they 
are  restrained  in  Synods  and  prevented  in  many  cases 
from  being  troublesome,  as  it  is  called,  to  the  clergy.'* 
I  say,  with  all  the  calmness  and  solemnity  of  witness- 
bearing,  that  so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  this 
representation  is  the  reverse  of  the  truth.  In  count- 
less instances,  I  have  admired  the  independent  votes 
of  elders :  and  in  presbyterial  and  synodical  meet- 
ings, the  constant  effort,  frequently  carried  to  excess, 
is  to  elicit  a  free  expression  of  the  convictions  of 
our  eldership.  Not  deserve  remuneration  !  The  good 
Lord  will  judge  differently.  He  will  not  forget  their 
work  and  labour  of  love.  Does  Dr  Davidson  not 
feel  that  he  incurs  a  solemn  responsibility  in  hurling 
such  imputations  against  a  body  of  men  of  whom 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  are  ready  to  testify, 
that  they  serve  the  church  of  Christ  with  disinterested 
devotedness? 

When  Dr  Davidson  has  such  an  estimate  of  our  ses- 
sions, it  is  no  wonder  that  he  impugns  the  purity  of 
our  churches.  He  says  of  Congregationalism,  that 
1  the  purity  of  her  communion  raises  her  far  above 

*  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  p.  194. 


40  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

those  denominations  which,  though  outwardly  com- 
pact, are  deficient  in  the  vital  essence  of  the  unity 
demanded  of  God.  .  .  .  Let  all  objectors  to  our 
form  of  government  attend  particularly  to  one  feature 
of  it,  that  a  church  consists  only  of  those  who  give 
credible  evidence  of  true  piety,  and  many  of  their  ad- 
verse remarks  will  be  withheld,  or  lose  their  point. 
We  as  Congregationalists  endeavour  with  all  careful- 
ness that  none  other  should  belong  to  the  spiritual 
society.  Those  on  whom  has  descended  the  sanctify- 
ing influence  of  the  Spirit,  are  the  only  acknowledged 
subjects  of  our  communion.'"  * 

This  is  high  praise  ;  as  much,  surely,  as  could  be 
said  of  any  church  not  in  glory.  And  what  has  Dr 
Davidson  to  say  of  Presbyterian  churches  ?  Those 
of  us  'who  are  unconnected  with  the  state  (he  observes) 
allow  that  the  members  admitted  into  churches  should 
be  such  as  profess  their  knowledge  and  faith  in  Christ, 
together  with  their  subjection  to  him  in  ordinances; 
or,  in  other  words,  those  who  are  true  christians  in  the 
judgment  of  charity.  We  fear,  however,  that  though 
they  admit  in  theory  the  scriptural  qualifications  of 
church  members,  they  forget  them  in  practice.  Their 
system,  however  favourable  it  may  seem  to  the 
scriptural  standard  on  this  vital  point,  has  never 
secured  holiness  in  the  members  to  any  consider- 
able extent.  As  long  as  a  palpable  line  of  distinc- 
tion is  not  drawn  between  the  hearers  composing  a 
congregation,  and  while  candidates  for  the  ministry 
enter  on  their  studies  for  the  oifice  without  giving 

*  Paw  400. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  41 

evidence  of  personal  holiness,  this  denomination 
cannot  pretend  to  attain  the  character  they  admit  to 
be  so  desirable.'  * 

I  am  glad  that  I  can  not  merely  cherish  a  favour- 
able impression  cf  Independent  churches  in  Scotland, 
but  from  intimate  knowledge  can  speak  confidently  of 
the  piety  of  not  a  few  of  them.  But  the  same  familiar 
and  prolonged  acquaintance  with  facts,  warrants  me 
in  saying  that  Independents  take  no  precautions 
that  we  do  not  take,  or  for  which  we  have  not  others 
equally  efficient,  to  secure  pure  communion.  I  never 
knew  a  person  free  of  scandal  leave  us,  who  was  not 
readily  welcomed  by  an  Independent  church.  In 
those  benevolent  exertions  and  devotional  meetings 
which  are  regarded  as  indicative  of  piety,  I  do  not  see 
that  Congregationalists  (most  favourably  as  I  can 
speak  of  them)  have  any  more  than  their  own  propor- 
tion of  numerical  strength.  '  I  freely  admit,'  says 
Dr  Wardlaw,  l  that  a  minister  and  his  session,  duly 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  purity  in  fellowship, 
and  acting  conscientiously,  have  a  great  deal  in  their 
power.  It  were  most  uncandid  to  deny  or  to  ques- 
tion that,  with  due  care,  their  success  may  be  equal  to 
that  of  any  Independent  church.'  ^  And  where  is  the 
proof  that  it  is  not  equal  ?  We  have  much  to  confess 
and  lament  before  God:  and  happy  will  it  be  for  us  if 
the  censures  of  others  lead  us  to  reply,  not  in  angry 
language  but  in  improved  conduct.  Yet  viewing  the 
case  in  relation  to  men,  and  as  regards  other  religious 
bodies,  I  am  desirous,  for  the  sake  of  our  Congrega- 

*  Page  G3.  f  Pilge  326. 


42  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

tionalist  brethren  themselves,  to  disabuse  them  of  un- 
kind impressions  ;  and  I  therefore  tell  them  explicitly 
and  positively,  that  such  accusations  as  I  have  cited 
are  untrue.  If  Dr  Davidson  adhere  to  them,  1  call 
on  him  to  substantiate  them,  or  to  adduce  so  much  as 
a  single  fact  in  justification  of  his  invidious  and  cen- 
sorious comparisons. 

In  replying  to  the  strictures  of  Drs  "Wardlaw  and 
Davidson,  I  have  spoken  freely,  for  I  am  not  permit- 
ted, in  defending  what  I  believe  to  be  a  scriptural  and 
most  important  institution,  to  suppress  or  compromise 
my  convictions.  But  I  entertain  high  respect  for  these 
writers.  Dr  Wardlaw  has  perhaps  done  more  by  his 
example  than  any  other  controversialist  of  his  day,  to 
denude  controversy  of  its  venom,  and  to  show  how 
possible  it  is  for  a  writer  to  do  justice  at  once  to  his 
argument  and  to  his  opponent. 

Dr  Davidson  sometimes  indulges  in  acrimonious 
language,  and,  like  others  with  whom  it  is  an  honour 
to  be  associated,  I  have  got  a  share  of  his  disrespect- 
ful diction.*     But  I  will  not  permit  a  little  rudeness 

*  '  It  is  curious,'  says  Dr  Davidson,  '  to  observe  how  tlie  main 
point  is  kept  out  of  sight  in  King's  Treatise  on  the  Ruling  Elder- 
ship, where  the  real  fact  of  debate  between  CongregationaJists  and 
Presbyterians  is  never  stated.'  In  the  second  edition,  from  which 
Dr  Davidson  makes  his  quotations,  that  which  lie  calls  the  real  fact 
of  debate,  (whether  elders  who  did  not  preach  had  the  right  to  do 
so,)  is  both  stated  and  discussed,  in  my  strictures  on  Dr  Smyth. 
Dr  Davidson  is  incapable  of  doing  me  deliberate  injustice;  and 
therefore  his  misrepresentation  is  the  result  of  mere  oversight. 
Such  mistakes,  however,  are  unhappy,  and  they  are  damaging  to 
>V  honour  and  influence  of  controversy. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  43 

to  myself  to  abate  my  grateful  sense  of  the  services 
which  he  has  rendered  to  christian  society  by  his  writ- 
ings :  nor  will  I  permit  it  to  keep  back  the  acknow- 
ledgment even  in  regard  to  the  particular  work 
in  question,  that  bitterness  is  its  occasional  fault,  and 
not  its  essential  or  pervading  character.  The  writer 
leaves  no  doubt  on  the  mind  of  a  careful  reader,  that 
he  has  aimed  to  find  and  develop  the  truth  of  God  ; 
and  I  regard  his  treatise  as  an  important  contribution 
to  its  department  of  theology. 

Throughout  the  preceding  pages  I  have,  for  the 
sake  of  brevity,  adduced  sparingly  positive  evidence 
where  the  views  I  advocated  seemed  to  me  to  be  con- 
ceded. I  hope,  in  another  treatise,  to  discuss  the 
same  subject  more  fully  and  satisfactorily. 


14  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 


PART   IL 

DUTIES  OF  ELDERS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

DUTIES   COMMON    TO    THEM   WITH   OTHERS  —  DEPORTMENT   IN 
SECULAR  AFFAIRS,  GOVERNMENT  OF  THEIR  OWN  FAMILIES. 

Elders  have  duties  common  to  them  with  others, 
which  do  not  immediately  respect  their  office,  but  of 
which  the  performance  or  neglect  very  seriously 
affects  their  official  standing.  Here  I  will  remark  on 
their  deportment  in  secular  affairs,  and  on  the  govern- 
ment of  their  own  families. 

Sect.  1. — Most  of  our  elders  are  engaged  in  busi- 
ness; no  small  proportion  of  them  are  tradesmen,  and 
have  to  say,  with  an  apostle,  '  These  hands  have 
ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were 
with  me.'  *  It  is  of  great  importance  that  christians, 
and  especially  christian  elders,  should  so  deport  them- 
selves in  worldly  transactions,  as  not  to  convey  the 
impression  of  being  worldly  characters.     Of  course 

*  Acts  xx.  34. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  45 

it  is  not  meant  that  they  should  be  remiss  in  their 
temporal  callings,  or  place  themselves  at  the  mercy  of 
any  extortioners  who  would  practise  on  their  simpli- 
city. Consideration,  and  diligence,  and  frugality,  in 
prosecuting  their  secular  vocations,  are  not  only  al- 
lowable, but  positively  incumbent,  that  they  may 
walk  honestly  towards  them  that  are  without,  that 
they  may  provide  for  their  own  families,  and  that 
they  may  have  to  give  to  him  that  needeth.  Pecu- 
niary embarrassments  in  any  circumstances, — and, 
above  all,  when  resulting  from  culpable  indiscretion, 
— form  a  decided  obstruction  to  an  elder's  usefulness. 
A  due  regard,  however,  to  such  considerations,  is  per- 
fectly compatible  with  an  estimable  deportment  in 
business  communications.  It  is  undesirable  that  an 
elder  be  characteristically  a  hard  man, — that  he  pass 
in  the  commercial  circle  for  what  is  there  termed  a 
Jew.  A  noted  greed  of  gain,  a  keenness  above  com- 
mon, in  looking  to  self-interest, — these  are  not  traits 
which  recommend  his  ecclesiastical  position.  Nor  is 
it  certain  that  his  outward  circumstances  themselves 
will  be  thus  benefited.  Generally  speaking,  there  is 
little  gained  by  that  gait  and  bearing  which  evince 
avarice.  A  man  whom  it  is  difficult  to  deal  with,  is 
not,  therefore,  in  all  cases  or  most  cases,  the  more 
prosperous  in  his  dealings.  To  beset,  and  importune, 
and  flatter,  in  driving  a  good  bargain, — to  hesitate, 
and  stickle,  and  argue,  on  the  last  item  of  contested 
terms,  while  a  reluctance  is  manifested  to  cede  ad- 
vantage equalling  the  eagerness  to  take  advantage, — 
all  this  may  occasionally  succeed,  but  the  success  is 


46  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

limited,  and  is  commonly  neutralised  by  injurious 
tendencies.  How  much  better  is  it  to  shun  the  sem- 
blance of  a  sordid  cupidity — to  evince  a  still  greater 
dread  of  wronging  than  of  being  wronged — and  ever 
to  maintain,  broad  and  wide,  the  distinction  between 
a  reasonable  industry  and  insatiable  covetousness ! 
In  such  praiseworthy  conduct  there  may  be  nothing 
of  positive  piety — no  exhibition  whatever  of  religious 
truth  ;  but  there  is  a  beautiful  harmony  with  religious 
profession  :  and,  to  act  otherwise,  and  exhibit  an 
unfavourable  contrast  with  many  secular  men  in  their 
own  province — the  only  province  in  which  numbers 
of  them  meet  with  christians  at  all — is  dishonouring 
to  our  holy  faith,  and  brings  religious  principle  under 
obloquy  and  doubt.  Let  our  elders,  then,  as  busi- 
ness men,  walk  circumspectly.  Let  them  remember 
in  the  market-place  their  relation  to  the  sanctuary, 
and  do  nothing  for  gain  derogatory  to  godliness.  By 
all  means,  let  them  be  diligent  in  business  ;  yet  so  as 
to  be  '  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord.'  * 

Sect.  2. — Most  of  our  elders  are  heads  of  families; 
and  there  is  no  requisite  to  efficient  rule  in  the  church, 
on  which  the  apostle  Paul  insists  more  particularly 
than  the  proper  government  of  one's  own  house :  '  A 
bishop  then  must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one 
wife  :'  '  One  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house,  having 
his  children  in  subjection,  with  all  gravity ;  for  if  a 
man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall 

*  Rom.  xii.  11. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP,  47 

he  take  care  of  the  church  of  God  V  *  These  state- 
ments are  strong  and  explicit  on  the  subject  to  which 
they  have  respect,  and  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  the 
consequence  which  they  assign  to  domestic  superin- 
tendence. A  man's  family  are  so  identified  with 
himself,  that  their  good  or  ill  behaviour  must  reflect 
honour  or  dishonour  on  his  own  head.  When  mem- 
bers of  the  church  know  that  he  commands  little  re- 
spect at  home,  and  that  all  is  insubordination  and 
anarchy  under  his  own  roof,  they  cannot  be  much 
disposed,  by  acquaintance  with  such  facts,  to  yield 
him,  where  his  claims  are  weaker,  a  willing  subjec- 
tion in  the  Lord.  Besides,  as  the  passages  quoted 
dbove  suggest,  much  the  same  qualifications  are  ne- 
cessary to  efficiency  in  both  situations ;  and  a  proved 
inci  pacity  in  the  one,  is  therefore  a  valid  ground  of 
exclusion  from  the  other.  Both  require  a  happy 
coml  ination  of  kindness  and  firmness  ;  in  both,  a 
measi  re  of  system,  and  constancy  in  adhering  to  it, 
are  quite  indispensable;  and  if  the  family  suffer  from 
the  absence  of  such  attributes  in  the  regulation  of  its 
interests,  how  shall  the  church  prosper  under  the 
identical  disqualifications  ? 

Such  observations  may,  indeed,  be  over- extended. 
X  wise  father  may  have  a  foolish  son ;  and  every 
elder  is  not  to  be  denuded  of  his  office  whose  paren- 
tal hopes  have  been  miserably  blasted  by  filial  mis- 
conduct. Certainly  not ;  or  Aaron  must  have  lost 
the  priesthood,  when  Nadab  and  Abihu  offered  strange 

*  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  etc. 


48  THE  KULING  ELDERSHIP. 

fire  before  the  Lord  ;'*  and  the  rebellion  of  Absalom 
would  have  been  its  own  justification,  showing,  by  the 
fact  of  its  existence,  that  David  was  not  competent  to 
be  king  of  Israel ;  and,  in  a  word,  our  own  church 
would  have  been  deprived,  by  this  test,  of  some 
of  the  best  men  who  have  ever  adorned  its  official 
stations.  I  might  easily  give  examples,  in  confirma- 
tion of  the  last  statement,  but  I  refrain  from  citing 
these  honoured  names  in  a  connexion  so  painful.  All 
such  modifications  and  exceptions,  however,  being 
admitted,  the  apostolic  rule  is  clear  in  its  import,  and 
searching  in  its  application.  When  a  child  of  many 
pious  prayers  and  counsels  turns  out  ill,  the  excessive 
odiousness  of  the  result  causes  it  to  be  observed  and 
mentioned,  and  hence  the  cases  appear  numerous, 
from  being  all  known.  The  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence bear  out,  as  a  general  truth,  the  statement — 
*  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when 
he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it.'  f  On  the  whole, 
the  better  class  of  society  have  sprung  from  the  better 
class  of  society  ;  and  does  not  this  show  '  that  the  chil- 
dren of  God's  servants  continue,  and  that  their  seed  is 
established  before  him?' J  It  must  be  farther  remem- 
bered, that  all  good  men  have  their  failings,  and  that, 
if  their  besetting  sin  should  happen  to  be  parental 
remissness,  the  mere  fact  of  their  being  good  men 
will  not  make  that  sin  less  heinous  in  itself,  or  less 
ruinous  in  its  consequences.  Eli  was  a  good  man, 
but  he  was  an  erring  father;  and  hence  the  judgment 

*  Lev.  x.  1.  t  Proy.  xxii.  6.  J  Ps.  cii.  28. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  49 

of  God  fell  very  dreadfully  on  him  and  on  his  off- 
spring. To  all  this  it  may  be  added,  that  there  is 
much  which  christian  parents  have  it  in  their  power 
to  secure.  They  can  uphold  the  stated  and  regular 
observance  of  family  worship.  If  their  children  are 
not  of  weak  intelligence,  they  can  lodge  very  much  of 
scriptural  statement  even  in  the  infant  mind.  And, 
therefore,  if  the  devotional  exercises  in  an  elder's  house 
be  irregular  and  intermittent ;  or  if  his  family,  when 
applying  for  admission  into  the  church,  be  found,  on 
examination,  to  be  ignorant  of  revealed  truth  and  un- 
familiar with  its  language,  at  a  loss  to  express  one  bible 
doctrine,  or  prove  it  by  a  single  text,  and  still  halting 
and  blundering  when  the  commonest  passages  have 
been  hinted  at  and  half  repeated,  there  is  a  demon- 
strated and  radical  evil  in  such  household  administra- 
tion, and  an  imperative  call  for  humiliation  and 
amendment.  But  who  of  us  has  not  need  to  institute 
such  reformation?  In  what  circle  of  kindred  or 
friends  is  there  not  too  little  of  religious  discourse,  too 
little  of  devotional  spirit  and  engagement,  too  little 
of  dissuasion  from  sin,  consolation  under  trial,  and 
stimulus  in  duty  ?  In  the  prospect  of  death,  men  set 
their  house  in  order ;  but  the  best  preparation  for  that 
solemn  issue  is  to  order  it  well  in  life.  Let  our 
habitual  converse  with  endeared  relatives  have  a 
kindness,  and  faithfulness,  and  sacredness,  befitting 
the  prospect  of  soon  parting  from  them,  with  an 
ulterior  hope  of  again  meeting  them — to  part  no  more 
for  ever.  Would  we  be  found  with  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, and  inherit  the  promise  of  having  our  families 


50  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

blessed  in  him  ?  Then  let  us  copy  that  faithfulness 
which  elicited  the  acknowledgment :  '  I  know  him, 
that  he  will  command  his  children  and  his  household 
after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord, 
to  do  justice  and  judgment;  that  the  Lord  may  bring 
upon  Abraham  that  which  he  hath  spoken  of  him.'  * 
Would  we  be  favoured  with  Joshua  in  guiding  a 
chosen  people  to  a  promised  country — a  spiritual 
Israel  to  a  heavenly  Canaan  ?  Let  us  adopt  his  pious 
resolution :  '  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve 
the  Lord.'  f  Would  we  sing  with  David  of  mercy, 
as  well  as  of  judgment?  With  him  let  us  exclaim  : 
'  I  will  behave  myself  wisely  in  a  perfect  way.  O 
when  wilt  thou  come  unto  me  ?  I  will  walk  within 
my  house  with  a  perfect  heart.'  |  A  right  discharge 
of  public  duty  will  always  dispose  us  to  visit  our 
habitations,  and  not  sin ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  transition  will  be  appropriate  and  joyous  from 
the  private  tabernacle  of  the  upright  to  the  public 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation — from  a  dwelling  of 
Jacob  to  the  gates  of  Zion. 

It  is  time,  however,  to  speak  of  the  duties  which 
devolve  on  elders  as  such,  and  which  directly  respect 
their  official  appointment.  These  duties  are  per- 
formed by  elders  individually,  or  in  their  collective  and 
sessional  capacity.  It  may  be  well  to  consider  these 
two  classes  of  duties  distinctively  and  in  succession. 

*  Gen.  xviii.  19.        f  Josh.  xxiv.  15.        J  Ps  ci.  1,  etc. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  51 

CHAPTER  II. 

OFFICIAL   DUTIES   OF   ELDERS   VIEWED   INDIVIDUALLT — EACH 

HIS     DISTRICT  —  DISTRICT     ROLL-BOOK VISITATION      OF 

CHURCH  MEMBERS — VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK — EXPOSTULA- 
TION  WITH    OFFENDERS — ATTENTIONS    TO    THE    YOUNG 

PRAYER  MEETINGS. 

Sect.  1. — Each  elder  should  have  a  portion  of  the 
congregation,  residing  within  a  defined  district,  com- 
mitted to  his  special  superintendence.  An  arrange- 
ment of  this  character  is  absolutely  indispensable 
to  the  good  of  the  church.  If  all  the  elders  have 
charge  of  all  the  members,  each  will  trust  to  another ; 
and  the  infallible  result  will  be,  that  congregational 
duty  will  fall  into  confusion  and  neglect.  Let  no 
elder,  then,  want  his  district ;  without  it  he  is  a  sen- 
tinel at  large,  or,  in  other  words,  no  sentinel  at  all. 
The  district  of  each  elder  should  be  of  such  extent  as 
he  can  effectively  overtake.  If  it  be  too  large,  he 
will  not  do  it  justice  ;  and  when  he  cannot  do  all  the 
duty,  he  will  find  a  ready  excuse  for  not  d(  'ng  almost 
any  duty,  and  for  discharging  his  whole  trust  in  a 
negligent  and  cursory  manner.  A  precise  rule  is  not 
attainable  in  such  cases,  because  elders  have  very 
different  measures  of  time  at  their  command ;  and 
what  is  moderation  for  one,  might  be  excess  for 
another ;  but,  generally  speaking,  no  elder  should  be 
charged  with  the  inspection  of  more  than  twenty,  or, 
at  the  most,  twenty-five  families. 

Sect.  2. — Each  elder,  to  whose  care  a  section  of 


52  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

the  congregation  has  been  assigned,  should  also  have 
a  district  roll-book.  Some  might  get  on  without  it ; 
but  in  most  cases  it  is  necessary,  and  in  all  cases  use- 
ful. This  roll  should  not  be  a  meagre  list  of  names. 
The  bounds  of  the  district,  with  the  localities  it  com- 
prehends, should  be  first  of  all  stated.  After  the  names 
of  the  members,  their  place  of  residence,  their  occupa- 
tion, the  number  and  ages  of  their  children  should  be 
all  notified  ;  and  hints  may  be  subjoined  of  any  pecu- 
liarities in  their  circumstances  and  history,  which  a 
minister  or  other  friend  would  find  advantageous  in 
visiting  and  addressing  them.  There  is  no  difficulty 
in  giving  this  plan  effect.  District  roll-books  are 
now  on  sale,  which  indicate  by  their  headings  how 
they  are  to  be  filled  up,  and  leave  no  room  for  per- 
plexity or  mistake.  A  degree  of  carefulness  is  required 
in  keeping  them  correct,  as  church  members  come 
and  leave  ;  and,  even  while  they  remain  in  the  same 
congregation,  often  shift  from  one  district  to  another ; 
but  if  the  lists  be  corrected  frequently,  they  will  be 
corrected  easily,  and  a  reluctance  to  undergo  this 
small  amount  of  trouble  would  be  a  sorry  token  of 
fitness  for  the  eldership.* 

It  may  seem  trivial  to  dilate  on  a  matter  of 
statistics   and   registration ;    but   even    morals    have 

*  I  beg  to  call  most  favourable  attention  to  Mr  D.  Robertson's 
Cbureb  Stationery,  including  the  Communicant's  Roll-Book,  the 
Elder's  or  Deacon's  District  Roll-Book,  the  Clergyman's  Visiting- 
Book,  etc.  A  more  general  use  of  these  auxiliaries  to  ecclesiastical 
superintendence  would  do  much  to  originate  or  promote  im- 
portant reformation  in  our  churches. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP,  53 

their  mechanism  essential  to  their  working,  and  the 
instrumentality  now  recommended  is  of  first  con- 
sequence to  spiritual  superintendence.  Its  impor- 
tance will  become  more  manifest,  as  the  scheme 
of  which  it  forms  a  part  becomes  more  fully  deve- 
loped. But  our  elders  will  bear  with  us  meanwhile, 
when  we  entreat  them  in  no  case,  and  on  no  account, 
to  want  this  tabular  view  of  their  districts,  or  fail  in 
bringing  them  up  to  the  existing  date  with  scrupulous 
fidelity.  If  professors  in  our  colleges  keep  catalogues 
of  their  students,  and  carefully  record  their  attendance 
and  appearances,  with  every  circumstance  affecting  a 
just  estimate  of  their  respective  standings — if  our 
elders  themselves,  in  their  secular  callings,  not  only 
register  the  names  of  parties  with  whom  they  deal, 
but  preserve  the  most  exact  account  of  every  circum- 
stance in  every  transaction — is  it  too  much  to  expect 
that  a  kindred  vigilance  be  dislayed,  and  similar 
memoranda  preserved,  by  responsible  stewards  in  the 
house  of  God? 

Sect.  3. — The  preceding  suggestion  will  be  the 
more  easily  acted  on,  if  attention  be  paid  to  another, 
which  we  now  subjoin,  in  exhorting  elder.}  to  visit 
their  districts.  The  elder  may  accompany  the  mini- 
ster, as  is  very  common,  in  his  regular  ministerial 
\  imitation  ;  but  the  elder  should  also  visit  his  district 
alone.  The  minister  has  to  inspect  all  the  congrega- 
tion, and  a  considerable  time  is  required  to  complete 
the  circuit  of  all  its  families.  He  is  often  grieved, 
indeed,  that  his  periodical  calls,  owing  to  the  pres- 

D 


54  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

sure  of  other  engagements,  and  the  magnitude  of  his 
charge,  are  so  widely  separated.  But  if  an  elder 
have  a  small  district,  he  can,  without  undue  effort, 
see  all  whom  it  comprises  in  a  shorter  time,  and  there- 
fore more  frequently.  It  is  also  prejudicial  to  the 
status  of  elders,  that  they  be  never  seen  unless  in 
attendance  with  the  minister,  as  if  their  presence  were 
only  subsidiary  and  accessory,  and  too  unimportant 
to  be  valued  by  itself.  To  all  this  it  may  be  added, 
that  an  elder  may  say  much  in  the  minister's  absence, 
which  could  not  be  so  well  said  in  his  presence. 
There  may  be  an  opportunity  of  removing  false  im- 
pressions about  his  ministrations  which  obstruct  their 
success,  and  especially  of  enforcing  attendance  on  his 
bible  classes,  or  other  means  of  improvement,  without 
any  appearance  of  personal  compliment. 

In  every  view,  then,  it  is  desirable  that  an  elder 
visit  his  district  apart.  To  promote  the  performance 
of  this  service,  the  ultimatum  of  time  allowed  for  it 
should  be  defined,  and  a  regulation  should  be  adopted, 
that  every  elder  see  all  the  members  in  his  appro- 
priated section  at  least  every  six  months.  A  day, 
also,  should  be  fixed  for  receiving  from  every  elder 
a  report,  written  or  oral,  of  his  half-yearly  visitation. 
Is  it  objected  that  the  proposal  requires  too  much? 
Not,  it  may  be  answered,  if  the  district  be  small ;  and 
especially  not  too  much,  if,  in  ordinary  circumstances, 
the  elder  simply  look  in  upon  the  family,  and  ask 
how  it  fares  with  them.  Persons  who  have  other 
ends  in  view — who  are  prosecuting,  for  example,  a 
political  canvass,  can  ransack  hundreds  of  abodes  in  a 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  55 

few  days  or  hours  ;  and  can  an  elder  not  see  twenty 
or  thirty  families,  to  whom  he  stands  most  sacredly 
related,  in  the  course  of  six  months?  But  the  mere 
.seeing  of  them,  it  may  be  objected,  could  do  little 
good  ;  and,  unless  they  are  to  be  exhorted  and  prayed 
with,  the  visit  may  as  well  be  dispensed  with.  The 
objection  is  not  valid.  A  flying  visit,  where  nothing 
more  is  practicable",  will  suffice  to  preserve  acquain- 
tance with  the  people,  and  to  keep  all  matters  of 
registration  in  thorough  order.  But  these  are  minor 
benefits,  and  come  far  short  of  exhausting  the  happy 
results  of  an  elder's  stated  attentions,  however  tran- 
sient. The  elder  misconceives  his  position,  who  makes 
so  little  account  of  his  own  calls.  He  does  not  know 
how  kindly  they  are  taken — how  they  endear  him  to 
abodes  familiar  with  his  accents,  and  every  way  aug- 
ment his  influence  with  the  flock  of  which  he  is  an 
overseer.  Let  him  try  the  plan ;  let  him  give  it  a 
fair  and  full  trial.  It  will  commend  itself;  it  will 
present  opportunities  of  doing  good  which  he  never 
thought  of,  and  which  could  not  be  foreseen.  Let 
him  not  defer  his  visits  till  the  last  month  of  the 
allotted  six,  and  then  be  driven  from  them  by  some 
untoward  casualty.  Let  him  accomplish  them  the 
first  month,  and  if  he  can  introduce  another  visit  into 
the  remaining  five,  so  much  the  better.  But  what- 
ever may  be  thought  of  times  and  modes,  let  the  ser- 
vice be  performed.  With  all  the  urgency  compatible 
with  respect,  I  do  say — visit  the  people.  I  have  other 
suggestions  to  give,  other  duties  to  dwell  upon,  but 
they  all  suppose  and  require  a  frequent  communica- 


56  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

tion  between  members  of  the  church  and  their  chosen 
superintendents.  Suspend  this  intercourse,  and  all 
effort  relaxes,  all  interest  ceases.  The  electric  chain 
is  broken,  and  the  current  of  celestial  fire  is  arrested 
and  lost. 

An  eider  should  attend  to  all  in  his  district,  and  to 
all  impartially ;  but  even  a  perfect  impartiality  does 
not  suppose  a  literal  equality  in  his  attentions.  There 
are  some  who  require  more  of  his  oversight  than 
others.  I  notice  three  classes  of  these :  the  sick,  the 
backsliding,  and  the  young. 

Sect.  4. — An  elder  is  expected,  and  bound  to  be 
specially  attentive  to  the  sick.  In  a  time  of  trouble,  his 
friendly  offices  are  most  prized,  and  are  likely  to  be 
most  useful.  He  may  sometimes  have  it  in  his  power 
to  benefit  the  afflicted  in  temporal  respects,  as  well  as 
by  spiritual  consolation.  When  the  sufferers  are 
poor,  he  can  bring  their  case  under  the  attention  of 
those  who  are  able  to  relieve  them  ;  and  they  are 
hard-hearted,  indeed,  who  might  relieve  sore  cala- 
mity, and  refuse  to  do  so  on  an  elder's  representation. 
Many  will  be  glad  to  help  the  straitened,  having  such 
unequivocal  testimony  that  they  can  do  it  with  effect 
— that  the  persons  pleaded  for  are  truly  necessitous, 
and  will  turn  the  aid  administered  to  good  account. 
Where  a  sick  person  is  injured  by  the  officious  throng- 
ing of  visitants  into  the  sick  chamber,  and  the  rela- 
tives in  attendance  have  not  the  discretion  or  courage 
to  check  the  impropriety,  an  elder  may  sometimes 
interpose  his  counsel  in  a  gentle,  inoffensive,  and  yet 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  57 

efficacious  manner.  But  while  these  matters  have 
their  importance,  and  indicate  a  species  of  humane 
attentions  very  becoming  in  a  spiritual  functionary, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  an  elder  enters  the  house 
of  mourning  chiefly  in  the  character  of  a  religious 
adviser.  Happy  is  the  office-bearer  who  understands 
and  performs  this  duty  well ;  to  excel  in  this  province 
is  not  the  attainment  of  all  rulers,  or  all  teachers,  nor 
is  it  given  even  to  every  master  in  Israel.  There  is 
a  certain  tact,  a  certain  delicacy,  in  aptly  handling 
the  bruised  reed,  and  fostering  the  smoking  flax,  that 
can  neither  be  written  in  rules  nor  learned  from  them. 
Yet  some  hints  derived  from  experience  may  not  be 
altogether  useless. 

The  sick  should  be  visited  promptly;  for  an  elder 
will  be  stung  to  hear  that  such  an  one  has  died  in  his 
district,  whom  he  might  have  seen,  and  did  not,  dur- 
ing illness :  and  he  will  poorly  satisfy  his  own  mind 
by  saying — I  had  no  idea  the  illness  was  of  that 
violent  character:  had  I  supposed  that  any  immediate 
danger  was  apprehended,  I  would  have  gone  with  all 
speed.  It  is  unspeakably  better  to  act  in  these  cases 
with  a  celerity  which  leaves  no  delay  to  be  explained 
or  palliated.  The  members  of  the  congregation  ought 
to  inform  the  elder  when  there  is  any  affliction  in 
their  families.  But,  if  they  do  not,  he  should  not 
reckon  such  information,  when  he  learns  the  fact 
otherwise,  an  indispensable  pre-requisite  to  his  visit. 
It  is  an  excellent  rule,  never  to  take  offence  at  real  or 
supposed  slights  in  connection  with  illnesses  or  be- 
reavements ;    for  people  are  not  themselves  at  such 


58  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

times,  and  it  is  cruel  to  measure  their  acts  by  a  rigid 
criticism.  At  all  events,  the  sending  or  not  sending 
for  an  elder,  often  lies  more  with  the  relatives  than 
with  the  immediate  sufferer,  and  he  should  not  be 
punished  for  their  inadvertency.  Invited,  then,  or 
not,  the  elder,  in  all  ordinary  circumstances,  should 
lose  no  time  in  visiting  the  house  of  mourning.  How 
desirable  is  it  that  he  come  early,  if  he  is  to  come  in 
1  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ ! ' 

It  is  not  necessary,  and,  unless  in  unusual  circum- 
stances, it  is  not  proper  that  he  stay  long.  The  suf- 
fering and  enfeebled  frame  is  easily  exhausted,  and 
therefore  the  words  spoken  in  such  cases  should  be 
few  and  well  chosen.  Exhortations  and  prayers 
should  both  be  brief,  and  we  should  be  on  our  guard 
not  to  prolong  them.  It  were  well  that  all  who  visit 
the  sick  adopted  the  suggestion,  for  there  is  no  just 
idea  of  the  mischief  done  by  sitting  for  half  hours  at 
a  sick  bed,  and  thus  taxing  unduly  the  attention  of  a 
patient.  Besides,  if  an  elder's  visits  are  short,  he  can 
make  them  the  more  frequent;  and  if  he  soon  leave 
and  soon  return,  he  will  find  this  distribution  of  his 
time  assigned  for  such  duty  at  once  the  most  accept- 
able and  the  most  edifying. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  sick  persons  and 
their  friends  will  be  often  desirous  to  elicit  an  elder's 
opinion  of  the  nature  of  a  malady,  or  its  probable 
danger.  He  should  not,  however,  affect  medical  skill 
if  it  be  not  possessed  by  him,  and  should  be  slow  to 
shake  confidence  in  professional  advisers.  In  so  far 
as  he  remarks  on  the  complaint,  he  must  beware  of 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  59 

inspiring  false  hopes.  To  gratify  a  sufferer  who 
clings  to  life,  he  must  not  overstate  his  anticipations 
of  recovery,  and  thus  blunt  the  edge  of  providential 
warnings.  It  is  a  false  friendship,  it  is  a  real  cruelty, 
to  soothe  solicitude  and  lull  into  security,  by  speaking 
of  renewed  health  and  pleasure,  when  thought  is 
pointing  to  aggravated  illness  and  approaching  disso- 
lution. But,  on  the  other  hand,  an  elder  should  re- 
member that  there  is  an  opposite  extreme.  In  order 
to  be  faithful,  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  expression 
to  every  foreboding.  If  he  have  no  right  to  promise 
life,  he  is  just  as  little  entitled  to  predict  death. 
There  is  One  who  is  Lord  both  of  death  and  life,  who 
often  removes  when  removal  is  least  expected,  and 
often  restores  when  restoration  is  despaired  of;  and, 
knowing  these  facts,  we  do  well  not  to  infringe  his 
prerogative.  Among  the  working-classes  especially, 
relatives  themselves  often  give  utterance  to  excessive 
fears  with  unrestrained  freedom.  In  this  manner  they 
may  induce  the  catastrophe  which  they  foretell ;  and 
therefore  they  should  be  restrained  rather  than  en- 
couraged in  this  practice,  and  calmly  reminded  that 
we  know  not,  and  that  it  is  not  for  us  to  know,  the 
times  and  the  seasons  which  the  Father  hath  put  in 
his  own  power.  Unless  in  extreme  cases,  it  is  enough 
to  remember  and  to  remark,  that  every  disease  is 
evidence  of  our  mortality,  and  premonitory  of  our 
decease — that  any  disease  may  terminate  fatally,  and 
should  therefore  be  improved  as  if  this  were  its  near 
and  inevitable  issue — that  whether  we  are  to  die  or 
live,   it  is  the  same  grace  which  qualifies  for  both 


60  THK  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

alternatives ;  and,  therefore,  on  either  supposition,  we 
should  apply  instantly  and  earnestly  for  its  needed 
succours. 

A  large  proportion  of  scripture  has  respect  to  afflic- 
tion, and  an  elder  can  do  nothing  better,  in  addressing 
the  afflicted,  than  cite  revelation  in  its  own  language. 
Though  he  should  simply  repeat  a  number  of  appro- 
priate passages  of  the  divine  word,  he  will  find  this 
rehearsal  of  heavenly  counsels  far  more  impressive 
and  persuasive  than  the  wisest  of  human  maxims,  or 
the  most  connected  and  eloquent  of  uninspired  ora- 
tions. 

For  all  that  needs  to  be  further  said  upon  this 
point,  it  may  suffice  to  add,  that  next  to  a  true  and 
deep  piety,  a  kind-hearted  sympathy  with  sufferers  is 
the  best  guide  in  accosting  them  with  propriety.  A 
heart  melted  by  the  sight  of  woes  reaJily  adapts  itself 
to  their  special  exigencies.  Let  us  recall  the  loss  of 
dear  departed  friends,  and  remember  the  time  when 
we  hung  in  anguish  over  their  pallid  cheek  and  quiv- 
ering lip — let  us  verify  in  prospect  our  own  certain 
and  impending  decease,  and  bethink  ourselves  what 
sort  of  comforters  we  shall  desire  in  these  solemn 
moments — then  shall  we  'remember  those  that  are  in 
bonds  as  bound  with  them,  and  those  who  suffer  ad- 
versity as  being  ourselves  also  in  the  body.'  Placing 
our  own  souls  in  their  souls'  stead,  we  shall  feel  for 
them  ;  and  this  fellow-feeling  will  prompt  appropriate 
sentiment,  and  seek  for  itself  acceptable  words,  and 
breathe  into  our  very  tone  and  manner  a  considerate 
and  healing  tenderness.     I  have  spoken  as  if  piety 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  61 

and  sympathy  were  distinguishable — and  in  a  certain 
measure  they  are  so ;  for  we  find  some  distinguished 
for  commiseration,  of  whom  a  decided  godliness  can- 
not be  affirmed.  But,  in  another  view,  they  are  in- 
separable;  for  piety  comprises  love  to  man,  and  that 
love,  in  a  case  of  suffering,  must  assume  a  sympathetic 
character.  Indeed,  the  hard  and  stony  heart  is  never 
thoroughly  softened,  till  it  is  subjected  to  the  influence 
of  the  blood  of  sprinkling ;  and  then  it  ceases  to  be 
stone,  and  becomes  flesh.  Let  us  come  much  to  Christ 
on  our  own  behalf,  and  learn  from  his  condescension 
and  compassion,  in  composing  our  griefs,  how  it  be- 
comes us  to  comfort  them  which  are  in  any  trouble. 
"We  shall  never  speak  words  more  seasonable  in  them- 
selves, or  more  blessed  from  on  high,  than  when  we 
comfort  others  by  those  consolations  wherewith  we 
ourselves  are  comforted  of  God. 

I  shall  conclude  these  remarks  on  the  visitation  of 
the  sick,  by  answering  one  or  two  objections. 

(1.)  I  have  been  told  of  elders  who  objected  to 
visit  the  sick,  on  the  ground  that  this  is  a  species  of 
teaching,  and  that  they  are  not  teaching,  but  ruling 
elders.  The  objection  is  so  foolish,  that  I  can  hardly 
suppose  it  put  forward  in  good  earnest  by  any  person 
who  has  been  appointed  to  an  important  office.  Yet 
as  several  friends  have  requested  me  to  notice  it,  I 
give  it  these  replies: — First:  When  the  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles  speaks,  1  Tim.  v.  17,  of  only  some  elders 
as  labouring  in  word  and  doctrine,  he  alludes,  as  all 
expositors  agree,  to  public  instructions,  and  cannot  be 
understood  as  exempting  any  class  of  elders  from 


62  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

doing  good  otherwise,  as  they  have  opportunity.  Se- 
condly :  Scripture  is  sufficiently  express  in  assigning 
this  duty  to  all  elders  without  distinction  :  *  Is  any 
sick  among  you  ?  let  him  call  for  the  elders  of  the 
church ;  and  let  them  pray  over  him.'  *  Paul,  in 
addressing  the  Ephesian  elders  collectively,  exhorts 
them  '  to  feed  the  church  of  God  ;'f  that  is,  to  dis- 
charge the  functions  of  shepherds  to  the  church — for 
so  the  language  in  the  original  signifies.  And  what 
would  be  thought  of  a  shepherd  who  allowed  the 
sheep  committed  to  his  care  to  languish  and  die,  and 
gave  them  no  attentions?  Thirdly:  All  christians 
are  bound  to  visit  the  sick:  '  Pure  religion,  and  un- 
dented, before  God  and  the  Father,  is  this,  To  visit 
the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to 
keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world.'J  Can  it  be 
supposed,  then,  that  presbyters  alone  are  exempted 
from  this  obligation,  or  that  a  social  duty  binding 
on  all  is  not  peculiarly  incumbent  on  elders  of  the 
church,  to  whom  a  guardianship  of  others  has  been 
specially  and  solemnly  committed?  Fourthly:  A 
minister  cannot  give  all  the  attentions  needed  by  the 
sick.  In  case  his  charge  be  of  any  magnitude,  this 
one  department  of  labour  would  require  his  whole 
time  and  more  to  do  it  justice.  If,  then,  ruling  elders 
are  not  appointed  to  aid  ministers  of  the  word  in  this 
important  province,  we  are  shut  up  to  the  conclusion, 
that  no  adequate  provision  has  been  made  for  the 
discharge  of  its  duties.  Fifthly,  and  finally:  The 
members  of  a  church  could  have  no  sympathy  with  an 
*  James  v.  H.  t  Acts  xx.  28.  J  James  i.  27. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  63 

elder  in  fulfilling  any  of  his  functions,  who  had  no 
sympathy  with  them  in  the  day  of  their  calamity, — 
who  knew  that  they  were  sick,  and  yet  visited  them 
not — that  they  were  in  the  prison  of  affliction,  and  yet 
came  not  unto  them;  and,  therefore,  if  any  invested 
with  this  office  are  so  heartless  as  to  neglect  the  dis- 
tressed on  such  a  miserable  pretext,  I  know  not  what 
other  official  obligation  they  can  discharge  with  ad- 
vantage. 

(2.)  Some  elders  scruple  to  visit  the  sick,  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  not  qualified  for  the  service. 
This  objection  wears  a  very  different  complexion 
from  the  former.  But,  after  all,  it  may  be  better 
only  in  appearance,  as  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for 
indolence,  and  even  pride,  to  fly  from  duty  and 
detection  in  the  guise  of  humility.  Where  timidity 
is  unfeigned,  I  would  remark,  in  alleviating  its  fears, 
that  the  simplest  manner  of  performing  this  duty  is 
the  best.  If  you  have  nothing  of  your  own  to  say  to 
the  sick,  may  you  not  rehearse  some  of  God's  sayings 
to  them  ?  May  you  not  repeat  to  them  some  of  his 
promises,  and  kindly  appeal  to  the  sorrowing  soul, 
whether  it  do  not  find  them  great  and  precious  ?  If 
a  sense  of  personal  insufficiency  be  discoverable  in 
your  manner,  that  will  promote  your  object,  while 
you  point  attention  away  from  man,  and  direct  it  for 
supplies  to  the  fulness  which  is  in  Christ.  Some 
elders  who  have  little  timidity  in  visiting  the  abodes 
of  poor  persons  in  the  time  of  affliction,  can  hardly 
command  courage  enough  to  visit  more  affluent  fami- 
lies in   similar  circumstances.       Indeel,   the   richer 


64  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

members  of  a  church  are  specially  apt  to  be  neglected 
in  all  the  visitations  of  elders.  A  plain  and  unpre- 
tending operative  feels  as  if  it  would  be  presumptuous 
in  him  to  intrude  on  the  privacy  of  his  superiors,  and 
accost  them  in  the  language  of  exhortation ;  and 
though  he  may  be  clothed  with  office,  and  they  are 
not,  he  cannot  so  far  sink  the  mechanic  or  tradesman 
in  the  office-bearer,  as  to  derive  from  this  circum- 
stance sufficient  fortitude  for  the  undertaking.  But 
these  impressions  are  very  unfounded.  The  rich,  it 
should  be  remrmbered,  need  spiritual  counsel  as  well 
as  the  indigent,  and  instead  of  proudly  repelling  a 
religious  monitor,  they  will  often  be  found  peculiarly 
grateful  for  an  elder's  attentions.  At  all  events,  an 
elder  should  do  his  duty,  and  not  take  impediments 
for  granted  until  he  encounter  them. 

(3.)  Some  elders  object  to  visit  the  sick,  because 
the  performance  of  this  duty  by  them  appears  to 
serve  no  purpose  ;  an  elder's  visit  is  not  accepted  for 
a  minister's  visit,  and  therefore  the  minister  is  not 
aided  by  co-operation,  which  leaves  the  calls  on  his 
personal  attentions  neither  silenced  nor  diminished. 
I  reply,  that  the  light  in  which  an  elder's  visits  may 
be  viewed  is  no  measure  of  their  usefulness.  They 
are  eminently  fitted  in  themselves  to  do  good;  and  if 
this  end  be  gained,  it  matters  little  Avhether  the  elder 
be  considered  an  independent  counsellor,  or  the  minis- 
ter's assistant.  That  an  elder's  visits  are  sometimes 
undervalued  is  an  abuse,  and  has  arisen  from  the 
unscriptural  neglect  of  the  office.  Let  these  office- 
bearers be  efficient,  and  the  very  frequency  of  their 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  65 

visits  will  create  a  dependence  on  them,  and  appre- 
ciation of  them,  and  earnest  longing  to  have  them 
repeated.  Were  it  found,  indeed,  that  a  minister 
discontinued  his  own  attentions  because  he  found 
substitutes  in  the  members  of  session,  a  reasonable 
dissatisfaction  might  be  awakened.  But  the  atten- 
tions of  elders  have  quite  a  different  tendency.  They 
make  him  acquainted  with  eases  of  distress,  of  which 
he  might  not  have  otherwise  known  ;  and  while  his 
mind  is  relieved  from  the  pressure  of  impracticable 
toil,  he  is  stimulated  to  do  all  he  can  for  the  sick,  in 
the  certain  knowledge  that  others  are  traversing  the 
same  path,  who  are  necessarily  observant  of  the 
degree  of  his  faithfulness. 

Sect.  5. — The  backsliding  members  of  a  church 
form  another  class  particularly  requiring  an  elder's 
attentions.  It  is  his  duty  to  speak  with  them  on  the 
sinfulness  of  their  conduct,  and  strive  by  God's 
blessing  to  bring  them  to  repentance.  This  obliga- 
tion is  not  indeed  peculiar  to  office-bearers.  We 
find  it  commanded  in  the  most  absolute  and  compre- 
hensive form :  '  Thou  shalt  in  any  wise  rebuke  thy 
neighbour,  and  not  suffer  sin  upon  him.'  *  Of  like 
extent  is  the  promise — '  Brethren,  if  any  of  you  do 
err  from  the  truth,  and  one  convert  him ;  let  him 
know,  that  he  which  converteth  the  sinner  from  the 
error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and 
shall  hide  a  multitude  of  sins.'f  Expostulation,  in 
one  form  or  another,  is  competent  to  all.  Servants 
*  Lev.  xix.  17.  f  James  v.  19,  20. 


66  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

may  fitly  rebuke  fellow-servants,  and  the  youngest 
children  their  companions  in  childhood.  Circum- 
stances may  occur,  in  which  inferiors  do  well  to  ad- 
monish superiors,  and  the  child  the  parent.  The  ser- 
vant of  Naaman  wisely  said  to  him — '  If  the  pro- 
phet had  bid  thee  do  some  great  thing,  wouldest  thou 
not  have  done  it  ?  how  much  rather  then,  when  he 
saith  to  thee,  Wash,  and  be  clean?'*  And  though 
our  Lord  himself  was  in  early  life  a  signal  example 
of  filial  obedience,  residing  at  Nazareth  with  Joseph 
and  his  mother,  and  being  'subject  unto  them,'f  we 
find  him  on  one  occasion  exchanging  that  subjection 
for  censure,  and  saying,  '  How  is  it  that  ye  sought 
me  ?  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business?' J  The  duty,  then,  is  general,  to  'have  no 
fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,  but 
rather  to  reprove  them.'§  At  the  same  time,  the 
duty  of  reproving  is  not  devolved  equally  on  all. 

Parents  are  bound,  in  a  very  special  manner,  to  in- 
terdict and  condemn  all  misconduct  in  their  offspring. 
Nor  is  it  a  passing  expression  of  disapproval  that  will 
discharge  this  responsibility.  Eli,  hearing  all  that 
his  sons  did  unto  Israel,  said  unto  them,  'Why  do  ye 
such  things?  for  I  hear  of  your  evil  doings  by  all  this 
people.  Nay,  my  sons  ;  for  it  is  no  good  report  that 
I  hear :  ye  make  the  Lord's  people  to  transgress.  If 
one  man  sin  against  another,  the  judge  shall  judge 
him :  but  if  a  man  sin  against  the  Lord,  who  shall 
entreat  for  him?'|j      This  seems  to  be  serious  expos- 

*  2  Kings  v.  13.         f  L"ke  ii.  51.         J  Luke  ii.  49. 
§  Ephes.  v.  1 1.  ||  1  Sam.  ii.  23,  etc. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  67 

tulation,  and  yet,  because  it  was  tardy,  occasional, 
and  irresolute,  we  find  Jehovah  afterwards  saying  of 
Eli — '  I  will  perform  against  him  all  things  which  I 
have  spoken  concerning  his  house ;  when  I  begin,  I 
will  also  make  an  end.  For  I  have  told  him  that  I 
will  judge  his  house  for  ever,  for  the  iniquity  which 
he  knoweth  ;  because  his  sons  made  themselves  vile, 
and  he  restrained  them  not.'*  Is  there  not  many  a 
house — the  house  of  many  a  real  saint — desolate  as 
that  of  Eli,  from  the  same  cause — the  relaxation  of 
parental  discipline  ? 

The  ministers  of  religion  are  also  under  peculiar 
obligations  to  tell  offenders  their  faults  :  '  Preach  the 
word,'  says  Paul  to  Timothy ;  '  be  instant  in  season, 
and  out  of  season ;  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort,  with  all 
long-suffering  and  doctrine.'f  Of  like  speciality  is 
the  obligation  resting  on  the  elders  of  the  church,  to 
see  to  the  well-doing  of  its  members.  They  are 
rulers,  and  what  sort  of  rule  would  it  be  that  took 
no  cognizance  of  transgression  ?  It  is  of  incalculable 
moment  to  sustain  the  standard  of  christian  morality 
in  our  churches;  and  while  all  should  endeavour, 
after  their  own  manner  and  in  their  own  measure,  to 
contribute  to  this  result,  yet  so  much  depends  on  the 
eldership,  that  if  their  part  be  neglected,  the  purity 
of  the  society  is  infallibly  and  fearfully  compromised. 

Any  sin,  when  it  becomes  known,  is  a  proper  sub- 
ject of  remonstrance  by  an  elder.  There  are  some 
sins,  however,  which,  from  their  prevalence  or  danger, 
will  call  for  his  more  frequent  and  earnest  dissuasions. 
*  1  Sam.  iii.  12,  etc.  t  2  Tim.  iv.  2. 


68  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Absence  from  church  is  among  these.  It  is  one  of  the 
surest  signs  of  degeneracy  when  persons  desert  the 
public  ordinances  of  religion,  not  remembering  the 
Sabbath,  and  not  reverencing  the  sanctuary.  Such 
contempt  of  divine  institutions  is  very  sinful  in  itself, 
is  always  allied  with  other  elements  of  backsliding, 
and  removes  the  transgressor  from  the  appointed 
means  of  correction  and  improvement.  Some,  who 
do  not  forsake  the  church  wholly,  rest  quite  contented 
in  a  half-day  attendance,  or  every- other-day  attend- 
ance, when  they  might  be  present  with  perfect  regu- 
larity. Such  conduct,  if  it  be  not  checked,  is  apt  to 
become  general,  and  always  to  proceed  from  bad  to 
worse,  till  church-attendance,  in  this  country,  as  in 
continental  countries,  would  almost  fall  into  desuetude. 
Elders,  then,  should  watch  over  such  cases,  and 
not  shrink  from  telling  Sabbath-breakers  their  guilt 
and  danger — Another  sin,  of  dreadfully  menacing 
aspect  in  the  present  day,  is  intoxication.  While 
other  vices  slay  their  thousands,  this  slays  its  tens  of 
thousands.  It  is  this  sin  which  empties  our  homes 
and  churches,  and  fills  our  bridewells  and  cemeteries. 
Inebriating  liquors  have  been  termed  strong  drink ; 
and  strong  indeed  they  are,  when  reason  falls  before 
them,  and  the  claims  of  friendship,  and  the  love  of  a 
good  name,  and  the  comforts  of  time,  and  the 
interests  of  eternity,  are  of  no  avail  to  withstand 
their  ravages;  when  multitudes  of  our  youth,  far 
outnumbering  the  armies  which  in  modern  wars 
defended  our  country  and  discomfited  its  foes,  and 
won  its  glory,  are  taken  captive  almost  without  a 


THE  RULING  ELDEUSHIP.  69 

struggle,  and  bound  in  the  chains  of  a  perpetual 
slavery  by  this  detestable  indulgence.  The  enormity 
of  the  evil  has  given  rise  to  various  plans  for  arresting 
its  progress.  To  decide  on  the  intrinsic  or  compara- 
tive merits  of  these  philanthropic  schemes  is  foreign 
to  my  present  object.  This  much,  however,  is  ob- 
vious, that  he  who  does  nothing  to  promote  sobriety 
must  be  wrong.  None  can  be  innocently  idle  in  the 
view  and  amid  the  desolations  of  such  a  deadly  plague 
as  intemperance.  All  may  do  much  individually  to 
bring  this  immorality  into  abhorrence,  and  the  ad- 
monitory vigilance  of  elders  may  be  of  incalculable 
value  in  warding  it  off  from  the  precincts  of  the 
sanctuary. 

Such  are  some  of  the  offences  which  warrant  and 
demand  the  faithful  dealing  of  an  elder  with  the 
offender.  Much  depends,  however,  on  the  mode,  as 
well  as  the  matter,  of  expostulation.  One  rule,  which 
our  Lord  has  laid  down  as  to  the  manner  of  proceed- 
ing in  such  cases,  is  never  to  be  forgotten  or  violated. 
He  has  expressly  enjoined  that,  where  the  offence  is 
personal,  and  not  known  to  the  public,  a  private  settle- 
ment of  it  should  be  attempted ;  and  if  due  acknow- 
ledgment or  reparation  be  made  by  the  party  in  the 
wrong  to  the  party  injured,  no  farther  steps  should  be 
taken.*  Besides  observing  this  rule  himself,  an  elder 
may  have  frequent  occasion  to  inculcate  the  observ- 
ance of  it  on  others.  The  rule,  however,  applies  only 
to  private  offences ;  and  when  any  sin,  even  though 

*  Matt,  xviii.  15. 
E 


70  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

it  may  have  been  ever  so  secret  in  the  first  instance, 
becomes  noised  abroad,  and  so  brings  a  scandal  on 
the  christian  cause  and  church,  then  a  personal  settle- 
ment of  it  is  no  longer  admissible.  The  vindication 
of  the  church  must  be  as  wide  as  its  reproach.  Even 
then,  however,  although  an  elder  is  not  bound  to 
communicate  with  the  person  in  fault  before  submit- 
ting the  case  to  the  session,  it  can  generally  do  no 
harm,  and  may  often  do  much  good,  to  speak  with  the 
individual  apart,  and  inform  him  of  the  measures 
which  the  nature  and  publicity  of  his  transgression 
render  indispensable.  Courtesies  of  this  kind  evince 
kind  intention,  and  remove  the  pretexts  which  shelter 
impenitence.  When  a  desire  is  thus  manifested  to 
save  feeling  in  the  application  of  discipline,  it  always 
commands  respect,  if  not  acquiescence,  and  seldom 
disturbs  good  understanding.  Indeed,  this  is  to 
state  the  case  very  feebly.  Let  an  elder  wear,  in 
his  own  blameless  character,  an  impenetrable  panoply; 
let  him  not  only  be  a  just  man,  but  a  man  of  bene- 
volent worth ;  let  him  enter  on  the  task  of  censure 
with  manifest  pain  to  himself,  and  obviously  from  a 
sense  of  duty  and  a  wish  to  impart  benefit,  and  he 
wields  in  these  attributes  an  impressive,  an  appalling 
power.  The  audacity  which  laughs  to  scorn  the 
mace  and  the  sceptre  of  earthly  greatness,  may  quail 
before  his  scriptural  and  spiritual  authority.  I  do 
not  say  that  it  will,  in  every  case,  subdue  trans- 
gressors into  contrition — that  end  it  can  never  reach 
without  God's  blessing ;  but  this  I  say,  that  the  man 
who  despises  such  admonition,  has  few  restraints  left 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  71 

between  him  and  destruction.  I  have  known  those 
who  have  resisted  and  reviled  a  faithful  and  affec- 
tionate office-bearer  in  the  self-denying  fulfilment  of 
his  functions;  but  I  have  known  none  of  them  whose 
scorn  of  God's  servant  has  not  recoiled  upon  them- 
selves. We  should  pray  in  hope  for  all ;  but  I  should 
despair  of  such  scorners,  if  I  were  to  despair  of  any. 

Seeing,  then,  that  official  censures  are  weapons  so 
penetrating,  an  elder  will  do  well  to  handle  them  with 
discretion,  and  to  beware  in  the  handling  of  them  of 
allowing  ought  that  is  earthly  to  impair  their  celestial 
purity  and  strength.  Many  counsels  might  be  given, 
but  this  only  I  shall  remark — that  remonstrance,  to 
be  effective,  must  be  expeditious.  A  stone,  in  down- 
ward motion,  is  best  arrested  at  the  beginning  of  its 
course.  When  it  has  tumbled  from  steep  to  steep, 
and  has  acquired  at  every  stage  of  its  descent  aug- 
mented violence,  a  resistance,  which  would  have 
stopped  it  entirely  at  the  commencement  of  its  fall, 
may  fail  at  the  last  to  qualify  its  speed.  So  is  it  with 
downward  conduct.  A  word  may  reclaim  after  the 
first  act,  where  volumes  of  entreaty  impose  no 
restraint  on  the  confirmed  habit.  An  elder,  then, 
should  not  procrastinate  in  checking  misconduct. 
One  of  the  best  elders  I  ever  knew  was  very  earnest 
in  acting  upon  this  principle,  and  he  related  to  me  an 
incident  which  had  mainly  impressed  its  importance 
on  his  mind.  A  highly  respectable  member  of  the 
congregation  in  which  he  was  an  office-bearer  became 
suspected  of  exceeding  in  the  use  of  spirits.  At  first 
the   suspicion    was  treated   as  a  calumny,   and  the 


72  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

friends  of  the  accused  spoke  of  it  with  indignation. 
Nothing,  therefore,  was  done  in  the  matter — not  so 
much  as  to  institute  any  inquiry  to  ascertain  the  truth 
or  untruth  of  the  rumours.  The  suspected  individual 
maintained,  on  the  whole,  his  prior  standing,  and  no 
one  could  be  bold  enough  to  confront  him  on  the 
delicate  subject.  Suspicion  went  to  rest,  but  from 
time  to  time  revived,  and  always  in  alliance  with  new 
corroboratory  indications.  Still  the  respectable  man 
could  not  be  charged,  however  gently,  with  the  sup- 
position of  inebriety.  At  length  his  excesses  became 
more  decided  and  apparent:  he  was  seen  drunk  one 
day  in  the  streets:  the  town  rung  with  the  sad  news, 
and  no  more  delicacy  remained  in  subjecting  him  to 
discipline.  The  session  took  up  the  case,  and  the 
elder  I  have  adverted  to  was  appointed,  along  with 

another,  to  wait  on  Mr ,  to  converse  with  him 

on  the  fama  affecting  his  reputation,  and  summon 
him  to  their  next  meeting.  He  received  them  with  a 
mournful  expression  on  his  countenance.  When  they 
had  informed  him  of  the  occasion  and  design  of  their 
call,  he  replied  to  this  effect — 'Your  visit  is  kind,  but 
late.  Had  you  conic  sooner,  while  I  had  a  struggle 
with  myself,  you  might  have  aided  my  better  resolu- 
tions. But  now  all  is  over.  My  character  is  lost  ; 
my  self-command  is  gone,  and  I  am  a  ruined  man — 
for  ever  and  ever.'  Shortly  after  he  expired  in  a  fit  of 
drinking.  When  the  elder  told  me  these  circumstances, 
he  was  much  affected  by  the  recollection  of  them,  and 
said  he  would  brave  any  accusation  of  censoriousness 
rather  than  encounter  another  such  interview. 


TIIK  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  73 

Sect.  6. — It  is  one  of  the  greatest  improvements 
of  modern  times,  that  so  much  care  is  bestowed  on 
early  tuition.  But  though  this  field  of  labour  receives 
more  attention  than  formerly,  it  is  not  yet  adequately 
cultivated.  The  offspring  of  professing  christians  are 
received  into  the  visible  church  by  baptism,  and  the 
church  is  solemnly  bound  to  use  diligence  that  all  the 
young  thus  admitted  into  its  fellowship  be  suitably  in- 
structed. If  no  means  be  employed  to  secure  this  end, 
their  admission  is  a  mere  ceremony — rather,  a  positive 
mockery;  and  the  opponents  of  infant  baptism  find 
too  much  pretext  in  the  conduct  of  its  friends  for 
holding  it  in  derision.  All  the  members  of  the  church 
should  derive  benefit  from  their  relation  to  it  cor- 
responding with  their  state  and  wants;  and  if  the 
church  neglect  the  young  who  are  its  acknowledged 
charge,  assuredly  the  rulers  of  the  church  shall  not 
be  found  guiltless. 

There  should  be  classes  of  children.  These  are 
commonly  taught  on  the  Sabbath  evening,  because 
the  season  corresponds  with  the  exercises,  and  is 
otherwise  the  most  convenient  for  pupils  and  teachers. 
Some  have  a  prejudice  against  Sabbath  schools.  It 
is  evident,  however,  that  to  children  who  would  be 
otherwise  neglected,  they  are  invaluable,  and  that  they 
ought  to  be  maintained,  were  it  for  their  sakes  alone. 
To  the  offspring  of  religious  parents  they  are  less 
necessary;  and  did  the  question  lie  between  school 
and  domestic  instruction,  a  decided  preference  would 
be  due  to  parental  superintendence.  But  I  apprehend 
that  these  means  of  improvement  are  best  conjoined, 


74  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

and  that  when  they  are  both  well  conducted,  they 
will  be  found  mutually  serviceable.  The  parent  will 
find  it  an  advantage,  in  directing  youthful  attention  to 
prescribed  lessons,  that  a  more  public  rehearsal  of 
them  is  in  prospect ;  and  the  Sabbath  school  teacher, 
when  he  experiences  unusual  ease  and  comfort  in  dis- 
charging his  duties,  can  generally  trace  these  facilities 
to  well-conditioned  homes. 

As  to  the  manner  of  conducting  these  junior  classes, 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  exercises  must  necessarily 
consist  in  the  recital  of  passages  committed  to  memory. 
It  is  of  importance  that  the  tasks  be  select,  that  they 
be  of  practicable  amount,  and  that  the  performance 
of  them  be  firmly,  though  not  sternly  exacted.  Each 
scholar  need  not  repeat  the  whole  lesson.  This  pro- 
cess becomes  tedious  and  monotonous,  and  tempts 
those  who  have  concluded  to  use  the  freedoms  of  a 
pastime.  It  is  better  to  call  now  on  one,  and  now  on 
another,  to  give  the  succeeding  verse,  taking  care  that 
none  be  ultimately  omitted;  and  all  are  thus  held  in 
vigilant  expectation. 

Even  the  very  young  should  be  taught,  as  they  are 
able  to  bear  it,  the  meaning  of  scriptural  statements. 
Where  this  is  done  by  questioning,  great  care  should 
be  taken  not  to  make  the  questions  lengthened  and 
prosing.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  learners 
are  comparative  babes,  and  that  instruction,  to  be  suit- 
able for  them,  must  partake  of  their  own  quickness 
and  vivacity.  There  is  reason  to  fear  that  infant 
training  often  errs  on  the  side  of  a  dull  solemnity. 
Those  who  are  so  commendably  occupied,  will  there- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  75 

fore  bear  with  the  reiterated  exhortation  to  study 
cheerfulness,  and  even  sprightliness,  in  their  mode  of 
teaching.  The  catechising  of  children,  to  be  at  all 
agreeable  to  them,  and  consequently  effective  with 
them,  must  be  prompt,  and  brief,  and  varied,  as  their 
own  mercurial  and  versatile  temperament — shifting 
and  sparkling,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  like  the 
playful  sunbeams  on  a  rippling  stream.  Yet  the 
questions  should  not  be  frivolous  ;  nor  should  they  lie 
so  much  on  the  surface  as  to  engage  no  thought,  im- 
part no  information,  and  merely  elicit  another  verbal 
repetition  of  sentences,  or  members  of  sentences,  al- 
ready uttered.  Children  must  feel  that  their  faculties 
are  exercised,  and  their  knowledge  enlarged,  or  they 
soon  weary  of  insipid  truisms.  From  all  these  obser- 
vations, the  inference  is  easily  deducible,  that  the  first 
to  be  drilled  by  the  teacher  is  the  teacher  himself, 
and  that  unless  he  has  premeditated  his  interroga- 
tories, he  is  not  likely  to  make  them  either  fascinating 
or  useful. 

As  children  may  pretend  to  be  at  school  when  they 
are  not  so,  and  an  institution  excellent  in  itself  may 
thus  be  perverted  to  the  worst  possible  evils,  parents 
should  be  admonished  to  watch  over  their  attendance; 
and  teachers  will  promote  immeasurably  the  value  and 
efficiency  of  their  labours,  by  keeping  lists  of  their 
scholars,  marking  the  absentees,  and  afterwards  calling 
to  learn  the  cause  of  their  absence. 

These  observations  have  respect  to  children ;  but 
instruction  should  be  afforded  to  the  more  advanced 
of  the  rising  generation,  and  there  should  be  classes  of 


76  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

young  men  and  women.  The  period  of  life  succeeding 
childhood  is  in  every  view  most  important.  It  is  the 
golden  age  for  learning.  The  season  of  first  feebleness 
has  passed  away ;  the  season  of  second  and  sadder 
infancy  has  not  yet  come  ;  and  the  mind,  all  buoyant, 
inquisitive,  impressible,  and  sprightly,  has  every  ad- 
vantage in  profiting  by  education.  With  superior 
facilities  for  improvement,  there  is  then  also  a  peculiar 
liability  to  intellectual  and  moral  perversion.  While 
the  understanding  gains  strength,  so  does  emotion — 
so  do  the  passions  ;  and  if  youthful  lusts,  which  war 
against  the  soul,  are  permitted  to  conquer  self-restraint, 
and  subdue  into  crime,  alas  for  juvenile  promise,  and 
the  fond  hopes  it  had  inspired !  At  such  an  epoch 
there  is  more  need  than  ever  for  wise  direction ;  but 
it  becomes  diminished  when  it  most  of  all  requires  to 
be  augmented.  Day  schools  are  then  left,  parents 
are  often  parted  from,  other  protective  influences  be- 
come, in  like  manner,  inoperative;  and  is  not  this 
the  necessitous  hour  for  the  church  interposing — for 
the  members  of  the  church,  and,  above  all,  the  rulers 
of  the  church,  supplying  a  lack  of  other  guardianship 
by  compensating  ministrations  ? 

As  these  classes  consist,  professedly,  of  young  men 
and  young  women,  it  is  desirable  to  fix  a  minimum 
age,  that  their  distinctive  character  may  be  preserved. 
The  more  advanced  dislike  to  be  associated  with  mere 
children  ;  and,  when  attainments  do  not  correspond 
with  age,  the  older  are  especially  apt  to  be  shamed  by 
the  superior  answers  of  the  younger,  into  silence  and 
desertion.     The  minimum  age  should,  for  these  rea  - 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  77 

sons,  be  somewhat  high — fourteen  years,  or  there- 
about. But,  while  none  are  admitted  under  this  age, 
unless  in  special  cases,  it  is  of  great  consequence  to 
obtain  the  attendance  of  numbers  much  older;  for  the 
term  of  education  cannot  be  too  far  extended,  or  the 
false  shame  of  being  made  wiser  too  much  discouraged. 
The  stated  meetings  benefit  more  from  being  regular 
than  frequent.  Many  young  people,  in  service  of 
one  or  another  species,  can  scarcely  obtain  leave  of 
absence  so  often  as  one  night  a  week ;  and,  if  they 
cannot  attend  always,  the  temptation  is  strong  not  to 
attend  at  all.  It  may  be  best,  in  such  circumstances, 
that  the  young  men  and  women  be  assembled  on 
alternate  weeks.  But,  whatever  may  be  the  interval 
selected,  the  time  fixed  must  not  be  on  slight  grounds 
departed  from  ;  for,  if  the  class  be  this  week  forgotten, 
and  next  week  set  aside,  its  ruin  is  inevitable. 

The  exercises  in  the  senior,  as  in  the  junior  classes, 
must  consist  partly  of  scriptural  recitations.  This  is 
the  more  necessary,  that  a  careful  committal  of  pas- 
sages to  memory  is  falsely  supposed  by  many  to  be  an 
occupation  only  for  children ;  while  the  advantage  of 
it  is  to  all  incalculable.  If  recollections  of  scripture 
be  vague  and  erring,  how  can  they,  in  a  time  of  need, — 
perhaps  of  temptation,  perhaps  of  death,  or  to  mention 
duty  always  incumbent,  how  can  they,  in  the  plead- 
ings of  prayer, — be  adduced  with  certainty,  readiness, 
and  power?  A  few  verses,  then,  should  be  assigned 
to  be  repeated  memoriter;  but  they  should  be  few; 
for  the  toil-worn  of  our  youth  cannot  burden  their 
memories  with  onerous  tasks,  and  by  the  attempt  to 


78  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

impose  them,  such  classes,  as  facts  testify,  would  be 
infallibly  wrecked. 

The  exercises  in  these  classes,  to  correspond  with 
the  status  of  their  members,  must  be,  to  a  large 
extent,  of  an  explanatory  nature.  It  is  not  meant 
that  the  classes  should  be  lectured  at  great  length  on 
the  nature  of  doctrines  or  duties,  for  protracted  ad- 
dresses are  unsuitable  to  such  meetings,  and  have  not 
unfrequently  the  effect  of  annihilating  them.  The 
system  of  question  and  answer,  already  remarked 
upon  in  relation  to  junior  classes,  is  here  also  the  best 
medium  of  communicating  knowledge  ;  of  course,  mo- 
dified somewhat  in  accommodation  to  the  altered  cir- 
cumstances. Two  or  three  questions  of  the  Shorter 
Catechism,  with  associated  proofs  ;  and  two  or  three 
verses  of  some  gospel  or  epistle,  may,  after  being  re- 
peated from  memory,  form  the  appropriate  subject  of 
query  and  response.  The  more  varied  the  illustra- 
tions are  which  the  teacher  elicits  or  suggests,  they 
will  be  found  the  more  pleasing  and  inspiriting.  The 
facts,  the  principles,  the  precepts  of  scripture  should 
all  be  in  requisition  ;  and,  indeed,  assistance  may  be 
derived,  with  happy  effect,  from  stores  of  useful  know- 
ledge not  expressly  religious — from  the  observations 
of  travellers,  the  annals  of  history,  and  the  discoveries 
of  science.  All  this  requires  very  little  erudition. 
Enough  may  be  gathered,  with  little  trouble,  from 
popular  treatises,  and  a  floating  literature,  easily  and 
universally  accessible.  Still,  a  measure  of  study  is 
necessary ;  and,  if  any  one  think  to  superintend  such 
classes   efficiently   without   investigation    and    fore- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  79 

thought  he  mistakes  his  undertaking.  He  must  re- 
gulate his  reading  with  a  view  to  their  benefit,  and, 
so  often  as  other  engagements  will  permit  him,  should 
prepare  particularly  for  each  particular  meeting  with 
them.  The  ever-recurring  secret  of  success  is  thus 
seen  to  be  labour.  If  any  desire  the  office  of  a 
bishop,  he  desires  a  good  ivork ;  and  ruling  elders  are 
bishops  in  the  nomenclature  of  scripture.  Miraculous 
gifts  have  been  withdrawn  ;  and,  though  that  undefin- 
able  quality  genius  were  as  prevalent  as  it  is  rare,  it 
would  not  supply  the  place  of  diligence.  Indeed, 
inspiration  itself  did  not  release  its  subjects  from 
exertion,  but  rather  stimulated  them  to  surpassing 
effort ;  for  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  as  he  excelled 
others  in  preternatural  endowments,  also  'laboured 
more  abundantly  than  they  all.'* 

Classes  of  the  kind  now  under  consideration  are 
commonly  superintended  by  the  minister.  Where 
this  is  the  case,  they  are  best  held  on  a  week-day 
evening ;  for  the  minister  is  then  in  better  mood  for 
conducting  them  vigorously,  than  after  being  fatigued 
by  his  pulpit  services ;  and  whoever  may  be  the 
teacher,  it  is  well  to  have  the  week's  worldliness  re- 
lieved by  intermediate  devotions,  and  the  maxim 
practically  inculcated,  that  religion  is  not  the  business 
of  the  Sabbath  exclusively,  but  generally  of  life.  Let 
not  impossibility  be  hastily  pleaded.  There  are  flour- 
ishing week-day  classes  of  this  nature  both  in  country 
districts  and  in  towns,  and  if  others  in  similar  localities 
be  declining  or  extinct,  the  cause  may  be  circumstan- 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  10. 


80  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

tial  and  not  essential.  Let  the  mode  be  doubted  of, 
and  once  and  again  altered  in  order  to  be  amended, 
before  suspecting  or  changing  the  day,  at  the  expense 
of  resigning  six  days  to  unbroken  secularity,  and 
crowding  all  such  labours  into  the  day  of  rest. 

In  some  cases,  the  minister,  from  age  and  infirmity, 
or  other  causes,  cannot  hold  these  classes,  and  then 
the  charge  of  them  devolves  on  the  elders.  They 
may  be  often  conducted  advantageously  by  both  ;  but 
abandoned  by  both  they  should  never  be.  In  the 
history  of  my  own  congregation,  these  classes,  as 
formerly  conducted  by  elders,  have  proved  a  signal 
blessing.  One  who  experienced  their  benefit,  thus 
speaks  of  them  in  our  last  year's  congregational  re- 
port:— 'Several  of  the  elders  had  classes  in  their 
respective  proportions — a  practice,  the  advantages  of 
which  cannot  easily  be  estimated.  During  the  last 
four  years  of  Dr  Dick's  life,  a  class  was  conducted  in 
the  session-house  by  Messrs  James  Sommerville  and 
David  Anderson.  Of  those  who  attended  this  class 
during  the  last  two  years  of  its  existence,  several 
females  have  become  instructors  of  the  ignorant,  and 
all  the  male  scholars,  without  exception,  have  been 
employed  as  Sabbath  school  teachers.' 

Let  all  our  congregations,  then,  have  their  senior 
as  well  as  junior  classes.  In  regulating  youth,  we 
are  regulating  manhood  and  womanhood ;  for,  in  all 
ordinary  cases,  the  one  period  of  life  fixes  the  character 
of  the  other.  A  special  difficulty  is  sometimes  com- 
plained of,  in  securing  the  attendance  of  young  men. 
But  the  end  is  too  important  to  be  hastily  relinquished. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  81 

Much  should  be  done  to  gain  their  presence  and 
sustain  their  interest.  We  thus  influence  their  views 
and  habits  at  the  only  time  when  modelling  agency- 
can  be  applied  with  any  degree  of  facility,  or  any 
likelihood  of  success.  Soon,  very  soon,  the  affairs  of 
the  world  will  be  entrusted  to  them  ;  soon,  very  soon, 
the  interests  of  Christ's  church  itself  will  pass  subor- 
dinately  into  their  hands ;  and  to  initiate  and  ground 
them  in  a  well  informed,  and  sober-minded,  and 
vitally- energetic  piety,  is  doing  the  noblest  service 
that  can  be  done  to  secure  and  expedite  the  glory  of 
the  latter  days. 

There  is  another  species  of  attentions  to  the  young, 
which  it  is  of  great  consequence  they  should  receive. 
It  is  well  known  that  every  year  brings  a  large  influx 
of  youth  into  our  commercial  cities.  Some  of  these 
young  persons  conduct  themselves  with  propriety,  and 
become  the  ornament  and  strength  of  churches  to 
which  they  attach  themselves.  But  the  dangers  to 
which  the  inexperienced  are  exposed  in  our  large 
towns  are  very  great ;  and  it  is  melancholy  to  think 
how  many  of  them  are  seduced  into  '  the  paths  of  the 
destroyer.'  *  We  have  our  bills  of  mortality,  and  they 
are  gloomy  records  ;  but  still  more  affecting  would  be 
the  recorded  wrecks  of  juvenile  promise  and  parental 
anticipation. 

In  so  far  as  these  youthful  entrants  into  cities  can 

be  induced  to  attend  classes  for  religious  instruction, 

a  great  object  is  accomplished.     But  not  a  few  of 

them  are  debarred,  by  circumstances,  from  making 

*  Ps.  xvii.  4. 


82  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

use  of  such  means  of  improvement.  Are  they  to  be 
neglected,  then,  or  merely  receive  a  stated  visit  with 
other  members  and  adherents  of  the  congregation '? 
Their  case  requires  more  consideration  and  sympathy. 
Very  possibly  their  new  pastor  has  received  a  letter 
of  introduction  with  them — a  letter  from  their  parents 
breathing  all  the  solicitude  of  parental  affection  ;  or, 
from  their  former  pastor,  testifying  that  hitherto  they 
have  deported  themselves  commendably,  and  soliciting 
a  watchful  eye  on  their  future  behaviour.  A  minister 
has  little  of  the  spirit  of  his  office  who  does  not  feel 
interested  in  the  charge  so  committed  to  him  :  but  he 
cannot  do  all  that  he  would ;  and,  when  he  has  done 
his  utmost  in  these  instances,  he  is  painfully  impressed 
with  the  insufficiency  of  his  services.  The  elders  can 
come  to  his  help.  Each  member  of  session  can  give 
attention  to  some  of  these  youths;  and,  by  showing 
them  a  little  domestic  kindness,  may  augment  the 
effect  of  official  counsels.  Elders  may  also  introduce 
them  to  church  members  of  respectable  standing  and 
beneficent  disposition ;  and  thus  the  pensive  and 
unprotected  stranger  may  speedily  find  himself  at 
home,  and  fenced  about  by  all  the  influences  of 
christian  friendship  from  the  perilous  snares  on  which 
he  was  stumbling. 

Sect.  7. — There  are  some  engagements  which  have 
not  regard  exclusively  to  any  class  of  persons,  but 
which,  as  being  conducted  by  elders  individually, 
naturally  fall  under  this  division  of  my  subject.  Of 
these  I  shall  notice  only — district  prayer  meeting*. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  8S 

Many  passages  of  scripture  point  to  the  duty 
and  advantage  of  such  assemblings  for  supplication : 
*  Again  I  say  unto  you/  declares  our  Lord  emphati- 
cally, 'that  if  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done 
for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.'*  We 
find  some  of  the  most  remarkable  manifestations  of 
God's  presence  and  goodness  recorded  in  scripture  as 
being  made  to  companies  of  disciples  who  were  thus 
occupied:  'And  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  fully 
come,  they  were  all  with  one  accord  in  one  place. 
And  suddenly  there  came  a  sound  from  heaven,  as  of 
a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting.'  f  Is  it  asked  in  what  they 
all  accorded  ?  The  explanation  is  furnished  in  the 
preceding  context:  'These  all  continued  with  one 
accord  in  prayer  and  supplication.'^  Peter  and  John, 
on  their  release  from  imprisonment,  '  went  to  their 
own  company,  and  reported  all  that  the  chief  priests 
and  elders  had  said  unto  them.  And  when  they 
heard  that,  they  lifted  up  their  voice  to  God  with  one 
accord.  .  .  And  when  they  had  prayed,  the  place 
was  shaken  where  they  were  assembled  together ;  and 
they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  they 
spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness.  And  the 
multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and 
one  soul.'§  When  '  Herod  stretched  forth  his  hand 
to  vex  certain  of  the  church,'  Peter,  by  his  orders 
was  kept  in  prison  ;  but  '  prayer  was  made  without 

*  Matt,  xviii.  19.  f  Acts  ii.  1,2.  t  Acts  i.  14. 

§  Acts  iv.  23. 


84  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

ceasing  of  the  church  unto  God  for  him.'  When 
Herod  would  have  brought  him  forth  for  execution, 
the  same  night  he  was  delivered  by  angelic  ministra- 
tion :  '  And  when  he  had  considered  the  thing,  he 
came  to  the  house  of  Mary  the  mother  of  John, 
whose  surname  was  Mark :  where  many  were 
gathered  together  praying.'*  These  were  extraordi- 
nary cases  :  and  yet  like  facts  have  occurred  in  recent 
times.  I  shall  adduce  an  example,  as  told,  to  the 
best  of  my  recollection,  by  Mr  Reed,  one  of  the 
missionaries  connected  with  the  London  Missionary 
Society  in  Africa: — He  was  labouring  in  Caffraria 
while  the  colony  belonged  to  Holland.  The  Dutch 
government  became  jealous  of  the  British  mission- 
aries, and  sent  for  them  to  come  to  Cape  Town, 
without  giving  them  any  intimation  of  the  design  of 
the  summons.  On  reaching  the  seat  of  rule,  they 
were  told  that  their  labours  must  be  discontinued,  and 
that  they  must  not  revisit  their  flocks,  even  to  bid 
them  farewell.  The  missionaries  held  a  conference — 
so  they  intended  it  to  be;  but  when  they  were  met, 
one  of  them  said,  '  What  can  we  confer  about  ?  to  de- 
liberate is  useless,  where  we  have  no  power  to  decide  : 
let  us  rather  pray.'  The  suggestion  was  adopted, 
and  the  missionaries  successively  addressed  a  throne 
of  grace,  continuing  '  instant  in  prayer.'  They  were 
yet  devoting  themselves  to  this  exercise  when  a 
rumour  reached  them  that  a  squadron  was  visible  at 
sea.  It  was  a  British  fleet,  having  for  its  destination 
the  capture  of  the  colony,  and  it  was  speedily  in  con- 
*  Actsxii.  12. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  85 

flict  with  the  Dutch  navy.  The  flames  and  smoke 
of  battle  could  be  seen  from  the  land,  and  the  cannon's 
thunders  were  distinctly  audible.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  light  was  over,  and  the  colony  belonged  to  Great 
Britain.  On  a  representation  to  the  new  authorities, 
the  missionaries  were  empowered  to  return  to  their 
mission  stations.  When  Mr  Reed  went  back  to  the 
people  of  his  charge,  they  received  him  with  rival 
surprise  and  joy.  Having  learned  that  they  were  to 
be  deprived  of  their  instructor,  they  had  assembled 
to  consider  what  should  be  done ;  and  the  question 
was  raised  among  the  taught,  as  it  had  been  among 
the  teachers,  What  can  we  do  but  pray?  They  en- 
gaged and  persevered  in  prayer;  and  Mr  Reed's 
restoration  to  them,  in  God's  own  way  and  God's 
own  time,  was  the  subject  of  supplication  when  he 
presented  himself  in  their  assembly  ! 

In  many  of  the  darkest  periods  of  the  church's 
history,  when  the  pulpit  has  emitted  only  such  instruc- 
tion as  causeth  to  eir,  devotion  has  been  very  prin- 
cipally cherished  and  preserved  in  prayer  meetings ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  when  a  season  of  revival  and 
reformation  comes,  these  excellent  institutions  are  the 
invariable  cause  or  effect  of  such  '  newness  of  life.' — 
An  able  writer  says  : — '  Where  the  spirit  of  prayer  is 
dull,  the  "  first  love  has  been  left."  It  must  be  so, 
both  with  the  individual  and  with  the  church.  There 
is  then  declension.  And  the  return  of  the  spirit  of 
prayer  is  revival.  The  criterion  is  sure.  It  is  an 
unfailing  spiritual  thermometer.  Where  prayer  is 
cold,  the  heart  is   cold;    and  as  the    heart   warms, 


86  THE  KUUNG  ELDERSHIP. 

prayer  warms Where  there  is  life  in  the 

personal,  there  will  be  corresponding  life  in  the  do- 
mestic exercises.  And  in  proportion  as  there  is  life 
in  both,  there  will  be  life  too  in  the  prayers  of  the 
fellowship  meeting  and  of  the  church.  A  praying  spirit 
in  the  closet  and  in  the  family  will  take  delight  in 
the  private  coteries  of  christian  conference  and  devo- 
tion ;  and  it  will  come  in  its  full  force  to  the  sanctu- 
ary.— Are  prayer  meetings,  then,  on  the  increase 
among  you  ?  Why  should  there  be  a  neighbourhood 
in  which  brethren  reside,  without  one  ?  I  know  not 
a  more  pleasing  symptom  of  a  reviving  and  thriving 
church,  than  the  multiplication  of  these,  and  their 
spirited  attendance.'* 

To  augment  the  interest  of  such  meetings,  some 
associate  with  prayer  the  reading  of  missionary  intel- 
ligence, others  the  exposition  of  a  part  of  scripture, 
and  others  the  discussion  of  some  important  article  of 
faith.  Any  of  these  adjuncts  may  be  so  regulated  as 
to  do  great  good,  and  where  it  is  so,  I  would  be  sorry 
to  disturb  the  arrangement.  But  they  may  be  per- 
verted into  an  occasion  of  personal  display  and  party 
strife,  and  very  great  evil  may  result  from  such  abuses. 
So  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  prayer  meetings  are 
generally  most  successful  when  their  nature  is  most 
in  accordance  with  their  name — when  the  exercises 
are  throughout  spiritual  and  devotional — when  the 
assembled  worshippers  find  ample  materials  of  occu- 
pation and  delight  in  reading  God's  word,  celebrating 
,iis  praise,  and  supplicating  his  throne.     While  reli- 

*  *  Keviva*  ex  Religion,'  by  R.  Wardlaw,  D.D.,  pp.  38,  39. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSIILP.  87 

gious  associations  are  so  conducted,  they  are  among 
the  best  indices  of  congregational  prosperity,  and 
surest  fountains  of  future  and  overflowing  good.  It 
is  desirable,  however,  that  none  of  the  services  be 
unseasonably  prolonged;  for  those  who  wish  to  attend 
may  have  little  time  at  their  command,  and  in  any 
circumstances  piety  is  not  likely  to  be  advanced  where 
strength  and  patience  are  exhausted.  These  remarks 
have  respect  only  to  the  mode  of  conducting  prayer 
meetings,  and  do  not  invalidate  the  importance  of 
holding  them.  They  are  of  high  and  holy  conse- 
quence. Scripture,  and  history,  and  present  facts, 
unite  in  attesting  their  value.  Let  every  elder  form 
them  who  can  ;  and  if  the  attendance  be  small,  and 
he  labour  in  vain  to  enlarge  it,  let  him  not  be  dis- 
couraged, while  the  numbers  fulfil  the  stipulation  of 
the  promise :  '  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them.'  * 


CHAPTER  III. 

DUTIES  OF  ELDERS  VIEWED  COLLECTIVELY — FREQUENCY  OP 
MEETING  —  MINUTES  —  CONGREGATIONAL  LIST APPOR- 
TIONING OF  THE  CONGREGATION — ADMISSION  OF  MEM- 
BERS      DISCIPLINE  MEASURES      AFFECTING      PUBLIC 

WORSHIP,   ETC. — GENERAL   ENCOURAGEMENT   TO    BENEFI- 
CENT INSTITUTIONS  — CONCLUSION. 

I  have  now  to  consider  the  duties  of  elders  viewed 

collectively,  or  in  session  assembled.     Some  remarks 

*  Matt,  xviii.  20. 


88  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

on  this  department  of  the  subject  have  been  offered 
in  treating  of  the  former  ;  and  it  may  be  necessary 
sometimes  to  revert  to  the  former  in  treating  of  this, 
as  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  keep  them  wholly  distinct. 
Still,  advantage  results  from  considering  them,  on  the 
whole,  separately. 

Sect.  1. — A  session  should  meet  with  due  frequency. 
If  elders  be  called  together  only  at  distant  intervals, 
and  perhaps  even  then  at  no  stated  time,  but  casually 
and  irregularly,  the  superintendence  of  the  congrega- 
tion must  be  in  a  ruinous  state.  The  reason  cannot 
be,  that  there  is  no  duty  for  the  session  to  perform : 
the  only  explanation  is,  that  the  performance  of  it  is 
neglected.  In  ordinary  circumstances,  a  session  should 
not  meet  seldomer  than  once  a  month  for  its  regular 
business ;  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  wished  that  another 
monthly  meeting  should  be  held,  punctually,  for  de- 
votional exercises.  It  would  be  to  no  purpose  that 
the  session  was  convoked,  if  its  members  did  not 
attend  ;  and  the  regular  attendance  of  all  the  members 
is  cpjite  indispensable  to  the  spirited  and  successful 
discharge  of  sessional  business.  No  elder  can  say, 
beforehand,  how  much  is  to  depend  in  the  guidance 
of  any  cause  on  the  information  which  he  may  have 
to  furnish,  or  how  much  the  interests  of  his  own  par- 
ticular district  may  be  involved  in  the  discussions 
which  shall  arise ;  and,  therefore,  an  elder,  by  unne- 
cessarily absenting  himself,  nor  only  deserts  his  own 
duty,  but  perils  the  usefulness  of  his  brethren,  who 
lire  more   faithful  than  himself.     In  all  respects  the 


TUE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  89 

punctual  attendance  of  elders  on  the  meetings  of  ses- 
sion is  so  important,  and  a  contrary  practice  so  per- 
nicious and  disheartening,  that  if  an  elder  cannot  or 
will  not  appear  in  his  place,  to  promote  with  other 
office-bearers  the  interests  of  the  church,  he  incurs  a 
dreadful  responsibility  in  retaining  functions  which  he 
is  failing  to  fulfil.  It  is  not  denied  that  an  elder  may 
be  necessarily  absent  at  times  from  the  meetings  of 
session,  but  let  him  beware  of  creating  the  necessity, 
and  of  allowing  occasional  instances  of  non-attendance 
to  degenerate  into  a  culpable  and  destructive  habit. 

Sect.  2. — The  acts  of  session  ought  to  be  regular!// 
minuted.  It  is  of  much  consequence  that  the  minutes 
be  carefully  kept — that  they  be  expressed  with  toler- 
able accuracy,  and  written  in  a  fair  legible  hand.  If 
possible,  they  should  be  completed,  read,  and  approved 
of,  at  the  meeting  of  which  they  record  the  transac- 
tions, as  this  removes  all  danger  of  interpolation,  and 
all  suspicion  of  misstatement.  Should  the  suggestion 
be  found  impracticable,  pretty  full  notes,  at  least, 
should  be  taken  at  the  time,  and  the  first  business, 
after  the  session  is  constituted,  should  always  be  to 
hear  and  pass  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  preceding. 

Sect.  3. — Mention  has  been  already  made  of  dis- 
trict roll-books.  Out  of  these  a  congregational  roll 
should  be  formed  by  the  session,  and  every  care 
should  be  exercised  to  keep  it  in  an  accurate  condi- 
tion. Admissions  and  disjunctions  of  members 
should  be  entered  into  the  record  immediately  on  their 


90  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

occurrence,  that  omissions  may  not  happen  through 
procrastination  and  forgetfulness.  A  roll  of  the  con- 
gregation should  be  kept  by  the  minister,  as  well  as 
by  the  session,  and  both  can  be  derived  and  corrected 
from  the  same  data.  As  each  elder  is  not  only 
responsible  for  his  own  district,  but  has  a  general 
accountability  for  the  state  of  the  congregation,  it 
belongs  to  all  of  them  to  make  sure  that  every  one  of 
their  number  is  active  and  faithful  in  his  particular 
province.  If  any  portion  of  the  flock  be  really 
slighted,  while  nominally  inspected,  the  evil  should 
be  ascertained,  and  a  remedy  applied.  The  elder  who 
is  remiss  may  plead  want  of  time,  or  bad  health,  or 
the  magnitude  of  his  district ;  and  in  such  a  case 
some  new  arrangement  can  be  made  to  relieve  him. 
But  on  no  account  should  a  section  of  the  congrega- 
tion be  left  to  inquire  month  by  month,  and  one-half 
year  after  another,  who  its  elder  is,  without  seeing 
any  of  his  own  doings  to  indicate  the  answer. 

It  is  a  first  duty  of  the  session,  then,  to  provide 
that  the  congregation  be  well  apportioned  among  its 
members,  and  that  the  arrangements  for  each  district 
be  in  good  working  order. 

Sect.  4. — It  belongs  to  the  session  to  admit  appli- 
cants into  the  fellowship  of  the  church.  In  the  discharge 
of  this  duty,  they  do  well  to  cherish  a  deep  sense  of 
its  importance.  What  is  all  other  congregational 
prosperity  worth,  if  our  congregations  be  not  com- 
posed of  genuine  believers  —  if  the  principle  of 
selection  be  not  at  least  acknowledged,  and  with  some 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  91 

fidelity  acted  on,  in  our  ecclesiastical  administration  ? 
"We  may  have  numerous,  intelligent,  affluent,  and  in- 
fluential audiences ;  but  if  no  discrimination  have  been 
made  between  the  chaff  and  the  wheat — the  living 
and  the  dead — these  audiences,  however  respectable, 
are  not  entitled  to  be  considered  christian  churches 
at  all.  It  is  only  when  reasonable  evidence  of  saint- 
ship  is  insisted  on,  that  a  stimulus  is  given  to  acquire 
the  indispensable  qualifications, — it  is  then  only  that 
persons  of  the  same  views  and  spirit,  being  separated 
from  others,  and  brought  into  fellowship,  favourably 
affect  each  other  by  reciprocal  sympathy, — it  is  only 
then  the  society  becomes  a  spiritual  Israel,  and  can 
expect  to  have  fulfilled  in  its  behalf  the  glorious  things 
which  are  spoken  of  Zion.  It  is  no  valid  objection, 
that  we  deal  harshly  with  people  in  denying  them 
church  privileges.  The  cruelty  consists  in  fostering 
their  delusion,  and  seconding  their  self-destruction ; 
and  the  truest  of  all  friendship  is  tendered  them  in 
restraining  their  presumption,  exhibiting  to  them  their 
danger,  and  pointing  out  to  them  the  only  path  by 
which  saving  privilege  can  be  reached,  and  its  exter- 
nal manifestations  consistently  observed.  Equally 
futile  is  the  objection  that  we  are  imperfect  judges  of 
character,  and  should  not  usurp  functions  which  we 
are  incompetent  to  wield.  Our  comparative  ignorance 
and  liability  to  err  furnish  adequate  grounds  for  cau- 
tion, and  gentleness,  and  charitable  interpretation,  but 
not  for  leveling  the  land-marks  which  the  hand  of 
God  has  erected,  and  which  his  word  clearly  defines. 
Is  no  distinction  to  be  made  ?     If  infidels  or  profli- 


92  THE  RULING  ELDERSHI1 . 

gates  choose  to  make  a  sport  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  call  for  the  cup  of  blessing,  as  Belshazzar  did  for 
the  sacred  vessels  of  the  temple*  are  we  to  accede  to 
their  demand  ?  Or,  suppose  only  that  persons  are, 
to  our  certain  knowledge,  absolutely  ignorant  of  the 
first  principles  of  Christianity,  are  we  to  encourage 
them  in  transforming  a  significant  service  into  a 
meaningless  ceremony,  when  it  is  morally  impossible 
they  can  profit  by  the  engagement?  It  will  be  said, 
these  are  extreme  cases.  But,  however  extreme, 
they  establish  a  principle —  the  principle  of  discrimina- 
tion ;  and  when  once  that  principle  has  been  ad- 
mitted, where  shall  we  stay  its  application  ? — where, 
with  any  approach  to  consistency,  or  semblance  of 
respect  for  scripture,  or  any  practical  effect,  if  not  in 
requiring  such  elements  of  character  and  behaviour  as 
constitute  a  credible  profession  of  faith  in  Christ? 

What  then  is  to  be  done  for  the  protection  of  the 
church's  purity  in  the  admission  of  members  ?  Care 
must  be  taken  to  ascertain  that  the  persons  applying 
have  a  competent  knowledge  of  divine  truth — that 
they  are  acquainted  with  those  cardinal  principles 
which  are  essential  to  the  christian  scheme,  and  of 
which  the  faith  is  therefore  indispensable  to  salvation; 
above  all,  they  must  have  clear  apprehension  of  the 
facts,  that  by  nature  and  practice  we  are  condemned 
and  depraved,  and  to  be  delivered  from  this  com- 
plicated ruin,  must  be  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God. 
What  renders  justification  necessary? — What  is  the 
nature  of  the  privilege  so  expressed  ? — In  what  sense 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  93 

are  we  justified  through  Christ  ? — In  what  sense  are  we 
justified  by  faith  ? — Where,  or  in  what  words,  is  justifi- 
cation spoken  of  in  scripture? — What  is  to  be  under- 
stood by  being  sanctified? — Who  is  it  that  sanctifies? — 
Wherein  does  sanctification  differ  from  justification? — 
What  proofs  can  be  adduced  from  scripture  in  behalf 
of  these  views  ?  If  such  questions,  kindly  put,  and  in 
a  variety  of  lights,  and  with  auxiliary  suggestions, 
cannot  be  answered,  the  gospel  is  not  understood. 
How,  then,  can  it  be  believed?  And  if  such  persons 
were  admitted  into  the  church,  to  what  would  their 
admission  amount,  or  what  communion  could  there 
be  between  enlightened  godliness  and  practical 
heathenism  ?  To  ascertain  the  knowledge  of  appli- 
cants for  church  privileges  is,  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
the  prerogative  of  the  minister;  but  there  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  devolve  on  him  exclusively. 
There  are  many  reasons  why  the  duty  and  responsi- 
bility should  be  shared  by  other  members  of  session. 
Where  a  teaching  and  a  ruling  elder  differ  in  their 
estimate  of  a  person's  knowledge,  there  is  ground 
to  pause,  and  to  institute  farther  examination;  where 
the  examiners  agree,  such  agreement  confirms  the 
judgment  of  each,  and  establishes  the  confidence  of 
the  whole  session  in  the  representations  given  to  them. 
Where  persons  are  kept  back  on  account  of  defi- 
cient knowledge,  it  is  a  pity  that  the  delay  should 
wear  the  aspect  of  harsh  rejection,  or  be  in  any  way 
so  conducted  as  unnecessarily  to  wound  feeling  and 
discourage  renewed  application.  Satisfaction  should 
be  expressed  that  they  are  giving  their  minds  to  the 


94  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

subject — that  they  have  profited  so  far  by  the  conver- 
sations held  with  them — and  that  good  hope  may  be 
entertained  of  their  growing  proficiency.  If  it  were 
a  common  practice  to  guide  the  less  informed  appli- 
cants through  a  course  of  catechetical  exercises  before 
receiving  them  into  communion,  and  if  persons  so 
deferred  were  made  aware  that  theirs  was  no  isolated 
case,  but  simply  an  exemplification  of  common  usage, 
all  appearance  of  special  and  personal  affront  would 
be  done  away;  and  the  excellent  effects  of  the  system 
would  more  and  more  facilitate  its  operation.  This 
is,  in  fact,  the  plan  pursued  in  many,  if  not  all  our 
congregations ;  and  where  it  is  most  fully  tested, 
causes  the  least  irritation,  and  is  found  to  be  produc- 
tive of  most  edification  and  thankfulness. 

A  minister  or  elder,  in  conversing  with  applicants, 
should  have  it  in  view  not  only  to  ascertain  their 
acquaintance  with  doctrinal  and  denominational  prin- 
ciples, but  also  to  discover  what  spirit  they  are  of, 
and  whether  they  speak  of  religion  as  those  who  feel 
its  value  and  have  experienced  its  power.  There  is 
much  need  for  caution  in  this  province,  lest  we  usurp 
the  office  of  the  Searcher  of  Hearts ;  but  still,  know- 
ledge may  be  uttered  with  a  marked  heedlessness  and 
irreverence  not  easily  reconcileable  with  godly  fear ; 
while  just  views  may  be  associated  with  a  humility 
ar.d  seriousness  in  stating  them,  strongly  corroborative 
of  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity. 

Supposing  each  applicant  thus  conversed  with, 
repeatedly  and  apart,  what  other  steps  should  be  taken 
to  test  honesty  of  profession  ?    Attestations  should  be 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  95 

asked  from  parties  the  best  qualified  to  give  them. 
It  is  good  to  obtain  as  many  of  these  as  possible, 
though  some  of  them  may  be  of  less  value  than  the 
rest;  because  facts  of  consequence  are  occasionally 
developed  where  the  disclosure  of  them  was  least  ex- 
pected. Some  churches  make  light  of  testimonials 
from  certain  other  churches,  and  scorn  to  ask  or  take 
them  as  any  evidence  of  saintship ;  but  the  conse- 
quence is,  that  abandoned  and  impenitent  offenders 
are  sometimes  admitted  by  them,  whom  other  societies 
had  rejected.  Though  written  testimonials  are  useful, 
still  greater  benefit  often  results  from  asking  references 
to  christian  friends,  and  communicating  with  such 
parties  orally.  People  will  say  what  they  will  not 
write,  and  speech  has  much  significance  which  writing 
wants.  It  should  be  asked  whether  the  person,  if  he 
be  the  head  of  a  family,  be  known  to  observe  family 
worship  ;  whether  he  ever  formed  or  attended  prayer 
meetings ;  whether  he  be  regarded  and  spoken  of  as 
a  truly  religious  person,  etc.  etc.  Such  inquiries 
must  of  course  be  exceedingly  varied,  according  to 
the  circumstances.  Were  such  faithfulness  of  scru- 
tiny habitually  and  impartially  instituted,  improper 
applications  for  admission  into  the  church  would  be 
reduced  in  number,  while  those  of  a  satisfactory 
character  would  be  increased,  and  the  session  would 
find  its  duties  become  both  easier  and  pleasanter.  A 
healthful  tone  of  piety  in  a  church  has  the  same 
tendency  to  scare  the  impious.  When  it  becomes 
understood  that  all  the  members  of  the  church  give 
as  God  hath  prospered  them  for  the  maintenance  of 


9G  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

his  cause,  the  avaricious  and  niggardly  will  not 
relish  such  fellowship.  When  congregational  or 
district  prayer  meetings  become  so  well  attended 
that  attendance  on  them  is  expected,  and  a  failure  in 
it  is  noticed  and  remarked  upon,  a  prayerless  person 
will  connect  himself  elsewhere.  The  practical  effi- 
ciency of  a  church  is  thus  intimately  allied  with  its 
purity,  and  the  improvement  of  either  is  the  advance- 
ment of  both. 

It  remains  to  add,  that  much  perplexity  may  be 
looked  for  in  reducing  these  principles  to  practice. 
That  none  but  christians  should  belong  to  the  church 
of  Christ,  is  a  maxim  commanding  ready  assent.  But 
to  know  what  we  should  do,  and  how  far  we  should 
go,  in  ascertaining  who  are  christians,  is  often  a 
problem  of  very  difficult  solution.  Sometimes  there 
is  little  evidence  to  be  had,  and  the  case,  in  its  own 
nature,  may  not  allow  of  much  ;  but,  when  all  that 
exists  is  favourable,  it  is  a  questionable  proceeding  to 
deny  Christ's  ordinances  to  those  who  are  probably 
his  people.  No  set  of  rules  can  be  instituted  for  our 
guidance,  because  piety  may  be  proved  or  disproved 
in  any  one  of  numberless  ways ;  and  the  cases  to  be 
considered  are  so  different,  that  each  must  be  decided 
on  its  own  merits.  It  may  be  said  that,  where  there 
is  any  doubt,  it  is  best  to  err  on  the  side  of  caution, 
and  exclude  for  the  time.  But  there  is  always  doubt ; 
for  we  have  no  discernment  of  spirits,  no  absolute 
knowledge  of  the  people  of  God,  and  the  question  still 
recurs,  what  degree  of  doubt  demands  and  vindicates 
postponement  of  admission?      We  must  have  some 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  97 

standard  or  other  in  our  minds  by  which  we  try  re- 
quisite qualification  ;  and  whatever  that  standard  may 
be,  whether  it  be  high  or  whether  it  be  low,  we  have 
still  to  determine  what,  in  many  cases,  is  very  hard  to 
be  determined,  whether  the  person  applying  come  up 
to  it  or  not  ?  The  difficulty  which  thus  hangs  over 
the  duty  should  dispose  every  elder  to  think  forbear- 
ingly  of  the  manner  in  which  other  elders  discharge 
it.  Let  each  for  himself  elicit  all  the  evidence  he  can 
of  true  christian  character.  When  a  case  is  sub- 
mitted by  the  brethren  in  the  eldership,  let  him  freely 
and  fully  express  his  views  of  the  testimonies  prof- 
fered. But  if,  after  all  this,  the  session  receive  one 
whom  he  would  have  rejected,  let  him  remember  that 
persons  may  hold  the  same  principle  of  pure  com- 
munion, and  yet  differ  in  the  application  of  it;  and 
let  him  give  all  the  rest  equal  credit  with  himself  for 
wishing  to  promote  the  church's  highest  interests. 

Sect.  5. — It  belongs  to  the  session,  in  their  collec- 
tive capacity,  to  administer  church  discipline ;  for  the 
purity  of  the  church  must  be  respected,  not  only  in 
the  admission,  but  also  the  superintendence  of  its 
members.  The  duty  is  of  high  importance.  'It  was 
one  of  the  greatest  glories  (says  Bishop  Burnet)  of 
the  primitive  church,  that  they  were  so  governed  that 
none  of  their  number  could  sin  openly  without  a  public 
censure  and  a  long  separation  from  the  holy  com- 
munion; which  they  judged  was  defiled  by  a  promis- 
cuous admitting  of  all  persons  to  it.  Had  they  con- 
sulted the  arts  of  policy,  they  would  not  have  held  in 


98  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

converts  by  so  strict  a  way  of  proceeding,  lest  their 
discontent  might  have  driven  them  away,  at  a  time 
when  to  be  a  christian  was  attended  with  so  many 
discouragements,  that  it  might  seem  dangerous,  by  so 
severe  a  discipline,  to  frighten  the  world  out  of  their 
communion.  But  the  pastors  of  that  time  resolved  to 
follow  the  rules  delivered  them  by  the  apostles,  and 
trusted  God  with  the  success,  which  answered  and 
exceeded  all  their  expectations;  for  nothing  convinced 
the  world  more  of  the  truth  of  that  religion  than  to 
see  those  trusted  with  the  care  of  souls  watch  so 
effectually  over  their  manners,  that  some  sins  which, 
in  these  loose  ages  in  which  we  live,  pass  but  for 
common  effects  of  human  frailty,  men  were  made  to 
abstain  from  the  communion  for  many  years,  and  did 
cheerfully  submit  to  such  rules  as  might  be  truly 
medicinal  for  curing  those  diseases  in  their  minds/  * 
When  persons  deny  the  offences  laid  to  their  charge, 
and  the  session  is  constrained  to  lead  a  proof  of  guilt, 
this  province  of  duty  may  become  delicate  and  ar- 
duous. In  general,  however,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
have  recourse  to  a  formal  trial.  Firm  and  affectionate 
dealing,  based  on  a  well-informed  acquaintance  with 
the  case,  commonly  secures  a  full  acknowledgment  of 
the  truth,  and  is  also  the  appointed  and  appropriate 
means  of  reaching  the  grand  end  of  discipline — the 
edification  of  the  offender.  Very  much  might  be 
written  on  this  head  ;  but  I  deem  a  prolonged  discus- 
sion of  it  unnecessary.  If  the  elders  extend  those 
attentions  to  the  backsliding  which  we  have  seen  to 
*  Hist,  of  the  Reformation.     Prcf.  to  Part  II. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  1/9 

be  due  from  them  individually,  the  same  principles  will 
regulate  satisfactorily  their  united  and  judicial  purga- 
tion of  scandal.  Let  not,  however,  a  hasty  dismissal 
of  this  subject  impair  the  conviction  of  its  importance. 
Iniquity  cannot  be  winked  at  in  the  church,  and  the 
presence  of  God  simultaneously  enjoyed ;  for  evil 
cannot  dwell  with  him,  neither  can  fools  stand  in  his 
sight.  As  the  Jews  ejected  all  leaven  from  their 
houses  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  Nisan, 
that  none  might  be  found  with  them  after  the  killing 
of  the  paschal  lamb  during  the  days  of  unleavened 
bread,  so  let  us  '  purge  out  the  old  leaven'  (the  leaven 
that  is  of  impure  fellowship)  from  the  house  of  God, 
still  more  sacred  than  our  own  dwellings,  that  we 
'may  be  a  new  lump  as  we  are  unleavened.  For 
even  Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us.'  *  It 
was  one  of  the  encomiums  bestowed  on  the  Ephesian 
church — '  Thou  canst  not  bear  them  which  are  evil.'f 
Let  us  read  our  obligation  in  its  commendation,  and 
'  he  that-  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  churches.' 

Sect.  6. — The  session  have  to  consider  any  pro- 
posals submitted  to  it  by  its  own  members,  or  by  the 
members  of  the  church,  for  the  improvement,  in  regard 
to  times  and  forms,  of  public  worship.  Here  a 
medium  must  be  preserved  between  inflexible  preju- 
dice and  restless  innovation.  Those  who  are  for  no 
changes,  and  those  who  befriend  all  changes,  are 
equally  unreasonable  and  antiscriptural  in  their  con- 
*  1  Cor.  v.  7.  f  Rev.  ii.  2. 


100  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

duct.  The  duty  incumbent  on  individuals,  is  no  less 
binding  on  church  courts  :  '  To  prove  all  things,  and 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good.'  A  session  must  also 
learn  to  respect  the  will  of  the  congregation,  strongly 
entertained  and  legitimately  expressed,  without  quail- 
ing and  succumbing,  to  the  utter  loss  of  character  and 
influence,  before  every  breath  of  opposition  pleading 
congregational  authority. 

Sect.  7. — Even  those  institutions  which  are  not 
necessarily  or  exclusively  under  the  charge  of  the  session, 
should  always  be  in  its  view,  and  enjoy  its  counten- 
ance. A  congregation  is  bound,  as  persons  singly 
are,  to  do  good  to  all  men  as  there  is  opportunity, 
If  it  can  have,  it  ought  to  have,  its  day  school  and 
Sabbath  schools,  for  poor  outcast  children — its  home 
and  foreign  missionary  associations — its  christian 
instruction  agencies,  for  visiting  wretched  and  ne- 
glected neighbourhoods — its  clothing  societies,  and 
other  instrumentalities  of  beneficence.  Let  it  not  be 
imagined  that  these  operations  will  drain  away  the 
resources  of  a  congregation  from  its  own  pecuniary 
liabilities.  The  principle  of  benevolence,  brought 
into  action  for  one  good  object,  will  be  found  avail- 
able for  other  good  objects;  and  they  who  are  mind- 
ful of  missionaries,  will  not  be  niggardly  to  ministers. 
Besides,  God  has  promised  to  compensate  a  hundred- 
fold,  even  in  this  life,  the  sacrifices  made  in  his  cause  ; 
and  are  we,  in  disbelief  and  contempt  of  these  pro- 
mises, to  hazard  nothing  for  the  promotion  of  his 
glory?     This  much  is  certain,  that  our  self-saving 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  101 

congregations  are  in  general  our  straitened  and  de- 
caying congregations ;  while  flourishing  churches 
have  in  many  instances  to  date  their  prosperity  from 
the  day  they  devised  liberal  things.  Let  a  session 
smile,  then,  on  all  these  enterprises  of  faith ;  and  if 
they  have  not  their  origin  and  direction,  let  them  find 
their  spring,  their  fulcrum,  their  associating  centre,  in 
sessional  approbation. 

Conclusion. — I   conclude  these  remarks  on  the 
duties  of  elders  collectively,  with  two  general  counsels. 

1.  In  sessional  deliberations,  'let  all  things  be 
done  with  charity.'  *  Members  of  session  should  not 
only  be  at  peace  among  themselves,  but  should  re- 
gard and  treat  each  other  as  personal  friends.  Any 
feud  in  a  session  is  most  ruinous.  A  silly  quarrel 
between  two  elders,  settling  down  into  habitual  en- 
mity, may  do  incalculable  mischief;  it  vitiates  the 
spirit  of  sessional  discussion,  and  other  elders  are 
drawn  into  the  misunderstanding,  and  become  as  keen 
as  the  original  disputants.  A  quarrel  in  the  session 
readily  extends  to  the  congregation,  where  each  of 
the  parties  bids  for  favour  and  support ;  and  thus  the 
strife  diffuses  and  prolongs  itself;  and,  '  where  strife 
is,  there  is  confusion  and  every  evil  work  'f  But 
what  can  I  do?  a  contentious  elder  will  say.  Am  I 
to  sacrifice  truth  to  peace,  and  lay  down  my  privileges 
to  be  trampled  on  by  insolence  ?  Certainly  not:  but 
where  alienations  are  formed  and  perpetuated,  this  ia\ 
rarely  a   fair  statement   of   the    case.      There   are 

*  1  Cor.  xvi.  H.  f  James  Hi.  16. 

G 


102  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

commonly  great  faults  on  both  sides  ;  and  supposing 
all  the  wrong  to  be  on  one  side,  though  the  aggrieved 
party  should  not  sin,  in  order  to  conciliate,  he  should 
seize  opportunities  of  pacifying  where  principle  is  not 
imperilled,  and  seek  the  noblest  of  all  victories,  in 
overcoming  evil  with  good.  If  any  one  set  his  heart 
on  the  portion  of  the  peace-maker,  it  is  amazing  how 
he  will  be  brought,  sooner  or  later,  in  one  way  or 
another,  to  the  possession  of  the  inheritance. 

2.  Elders  should  observe  a  general  silence  out  of 
doors  about  their  sessional  proceedings.  It  is  true  that 
sessions  are  open  courts  ;  equally  so  as  presbyteries  : 
and  I  often  feel  desirous  that  all  the  world  looked  upon 
them  ;  for  presbytery  is  nowhere  seen  to  so  much  ad- 
vantage as  in  these  lowliest  of  its  judicatories.  There 
we  behold  men  of  christian  worth  making  large  sacri- 
fice of  time  and  pains  in  order  to  do  good.  Their 
remarks  may  want  elocution,  but  they  have  the  higher 
attributes  of  sound  sense  and  upright  principle.  The 
time  is  spent  not  in  talking  but  in  working;  and  one 
is  surprised,  when  so  little  is  said,  to  see  so  much 
transacted.  The  wisdom,  the  candour,  the  kindness 
manifested  on  these  occasions,  have  often  filled  me 
with  admiration,  and  deepened  the  conviction,  that  a 
system  so  benignant  in  its  character  must  be  divine 
in  its  origin.  There  are  exceptions,  no  doubt,  to  such 
commendatory  allusions;  but  all  my  experience 
warrants  me  in  saying,  that  if  presbytery  be  its  own 
witness  anywhere,  it  commends  itself  in  its  sessions. 

These  sessions  are  open  courts.  Yet  they  must 
have  the  right  of  all  courts  to  sit,  when  they  think 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  103 

proper,  with  shut  doors ;  and  as  cases  which  are  local, 
and  which  affect  private  character,  are  often  adjudi- 
cated on  by  them,  they  must,  in  mercy,  exercise  this 
right  with  unusual  frequency.  Besides,  the  unosten- 
tatious efficiency  of  sessions  may  result  partly  from 
the  absence  of  all  temptations  to  display;  and  modest 
operatives  may  express  their  opinions  freely  to  brethren, 
who  would  be  completely  silenced  by  the  presence  of 
the  public.  Such  considerations,  in  the  absence  of 
all  interdicts,  have  indisposed  our  congregations  to 
intrude  on  sessional  meetings;  and  it  were  well  that 
the  same  consideration  and  delicacy  prevented  mem- 
bers of  session  from  unnecessarily  noising  about  their 
own  communings  and  enactments.  When  elders, 
without  any  distinct  call  of  duty  to  divulge  their 
proceedings,  must  be  telling  here  and  there  what  has 
been  passing  among  them — what  such  an  one  said, 
and  how  such  another  voted — they  stir  up  contention 
where  none  existed,  they  create  illicit  tribunals  to 
overrule  their  own,  and  follow  a  course  of  which  the 
whole  tendency  is  to  weaken  their  official  influence, 
and  bring  their  office  itself  into  contempt.  It  would 
be  better  for  the  session  to  court  a  direct  and  staring 
publicity,  than  have  its  acts  reported  and  canvassed 
in  this  discreditable  manner.  If  I  remark  strongly 
on  this  indiscretion,  the  evil  which  I  know  it  to  have 
done  to  some  congregations  may  be  pleaded  as  an 
apology  for  apparent  vehemence. 


104  THE  RULING  ELDEKSHIP* 


CHAPTER   IV. 

DUTIES    OP   ELDERS   IN   THE   HIGHER   CHURCH   COURTS. 

It  is  usual  for  presbyteries,  synods,  and  assemblies  to 
consist  of  ruling  elders  and  ministers  in  nearly  equal 
proportions.  But  the  balance,  though  respected  in 
theory,  is  not  much  exemplified  in  practice.  Generally 
speaking,  the  ministers  are  most  fully  in  attendance ; 
and  the  part  which  elders  take  in  the  business  tran- 
sacted is  still  more  limited  than  their  numerical 
strength.  It  is  impossible  to  witness  the  proceedings 
on  these  occasions  with  an  unprejudiced  eye,  and  not 
perceive  that  if  the  principle  of  a  ruling  eldership  be 
sound,  the  application  of  it  in  this  province  is  greatly 
defective.  As  ministers  are  trained  and  habituated 
to  public  speaking,  they  may  be  expected  perhaps  to 
have  always  the  greater  share  of  discussions  ;  but  no 
such  circumstance  can  adequately  explain  or  justify 
the  depressed  condition  of  the  eldership  in  all  our 
courts  of  review.  Various  remedies  have  been  pro- 
posed. It  has  been  suggested  that  the  sessions  might 
elect  elders  belonging  to  other  sessions  to  represent 
them  in  the  higher  courts,  when  it  was  not  convenient 
for  any  of  their  own  number  to  be  present.  No 
doubt  a  fuller  attendance  of  elders  might  be  secured 
in  this  way,  and  the  most  competent  persons  would 
also  be  the  most  likely  to  be  chosen.  But  the  scheme 
is  attended  with  difficulties.  It  is  somewhat  question- 
able in  its  principle :  it  would  give  a  decided  pre- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  105 

ponderance  of  power  to  elders,  in  or  near  the  seat  of 
the.  court;  and  instead  of  stirring  up  sessions  to  greater 
activity,  it  would  indispose  them  for  action,  by  pref- 
erring a  transference  of  duty  from  themselves  to 
others.  If  the  measure  remarked  on  be,  for  such 
reasons,  inexpedient,  much  may  nevertheless  be  done 
to  advance  the  efficiency  of  elders  in  our  ecclesiastica1 
judicatories.  Those  elders  who  can  best  attend  pres- 
byterial  and  synodical  meetings,  may  be  appointed 
to  represent  sessions  ;  and  all  proper  steps  should  be 
taken  to  facilitate  their  attendance.  The  appointment 
may  be  prolonged  beyond  a  half-year,  or  even  a  whole 
year;  for  when  the  term  is  so  very  brief,  an  elder  is 
only  beginning  to  know  the  duties,  and  to  feel  some 
freedom  in  discharging  them,  when  he  is  replaced  by 
his  successor.  The  more  vigorous  performance  of 
other  duties  by  elders,  and  especially  those  of  a  pub- 
lic and  beneficial  character,  will  also  be  found  an 
admirable  preparation  for  the  right  discharge  of  those 
functions  of  which  we  are  now  speaking.  In  these 
days  elders  are  often  associated  with  ministers  in  visit- 
ing congregations  and  rousing  them  to  a  juster  sense 
of  what  they  owe  to  themselves  and  to  the  world;  and 
if  more  of  our  elders  were  so  occupied,  the  happy 
effects  of  such  discipline  on  their  more  judicial  ser- 
vices would  be  speedily  apparent. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  the  treasurers,  secretaries, 
and  presidents  of  important  boards  connected  with 
Presbyterian  denominations,  might  perhaps  be  ap- 
pointed members  of  court  ex-officio  —  at  all  events, 
corresponding  members ;  and  if  elders  were  eligible 


106  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

to  these  trusts,  some  of  the  ablest  and  best  men  among 
them  would  be  enabled,  possibly  for  many  years,  to 
benefit  the  church  by  their  advice.  They  might  justly 
be  termed  representatives,  for  they  would  represent 
their  religious  society  in  some  of  its  most  important 
interests  —  interests  demanding  their  presence  and 
guidance;  and  if  the  mode  of  their  appointment 
would  be  somewhat  anomalous,  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  any  such  rigid  pattern  of  presbytery  be 
found  in  the  New  Testament  as  would  forbid  the 
anomaly. 

It  is  by  some  such  means  as  these  that  elders 
would  become  more  influential  in  the  church  courts. 
To  no  purpose  is  jealousy  sown  between  ministers 
and  elders,  as  if  the  former  wished  to  keep  down  the 
latter,  when  they  meet  on  a  common  platform  to  pro- 
mote the  same  objects.  Equally  vain  is  it  to  think  of 
mending  matters  by  urging  elders  to  speak  who  are 
strangers  to  the  effort,  and  cannot  even  make  them- 
selves audible.  Let  men  be  brought  into  court  who 
can  meet  its  requirements,  who  have  devoted  time 
and  zeal  to  ecclesiastical  engagements  in  other  fields 
of  labour,  and  there  acquired  the  facilities  which  only 
experience  can  impart,  and  there  is  no  danger  but 
they  will  receive  the  attention  and  respect  to  which 
they  are  entitled. 

It  is  not  designed  by  these  observations  to  repre- 
sent the  usefulness  of  ruling  elders  in  the  church 
courts  as  wholly  dependent  on  effective  speaking. 
They  may  render  essential  service  by  their  general 
attention  to  the  business  transacted.     If  they  would 


THE  RULING  ELDEKS11IP.  107 

use  their  office  well,  and  set  an   example  to  their 
ministerial  coadjutors,  let  them — 

1.  Preserve  a  decorum  of  manner  befitting  the  re- 
collection that  they  are  convened  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  under  the  eye  of  an  evil,  but  discerning, 
world.  A  heedless  inattention  to  the  affairs  in  hand, 
an  idle  talking  with  neighbours,  and  unrestrained 
laughter  at  the  jokes  of  speakers,  all  these  liberties, 
beyond  very  narrow  limits,  are  utterly  unsuitable  to 
the  occasion  and  circumstances,  and  cause  more 
injury  than  is  suspected  to  the  interests  of  religion. 
Let  them — 

2.  Attend  to  the  entire  argument  of  a  case  in  which 
they  are  to  give  judgment.  An  elder  may  not  have 
it  in  his  power  to  participate  in  all  the  proceedings  of 
a  presbytery  or  synod ;  but  in  these  circumstances  he 
should  not  subdivide  his  time  among  many  causes, 
and  give  an  ill-informed  vote  on  all  of  them.  It  is 
much  better  to  sift  certain  questions  thoroughly,  and 
to  evince  his  mind  on  these  alone.     Let  them — 

3.  Make  a  careful  selection  of  the  business  to  which 
their  attention  shall  be  mainly  devoted.  Personal 
squabbles  and  bitter  controversies  have  an  exciting 
interest,  and  commonly  secure  a  full  house  and  ample 
time  for  their  consideration.  Little  apprehension 
need  be  entertained  that  such  matters  will  be  ne- 
glected. If  an  elder  would  be  very  useful,  he  should 
set  his  heart,  and  expend  his  time  very  principally, 
en  those  measures  of  beneficence  which  are  apt,  from 
being  of  a  general  nature,  to  be  deferred  to  thin 
meetings,  or  summarily  disposed   of,   although  they 


108  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP, 

vitally  affect  the  reformation  of  the  church,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  world.     Let  them — 

4.  Beware  of  yielding  to  prejudices  of  their  own, 
or  passionate  appeals  by  others,  which  would  disturb 
tranquil  and  candid  deliberation.  A  strong  effoit  of 
self-denial  is  often  indispensable  that  we  may  fulfil 
the  mandate :  '  Judge  not  according  to  the  appear- 
ance, but  judge  righteous  judgment.'*  Nor  is  it 
enough  that  a  cool  and  unbiassed  temperament  be 
preserved  in  these  judicatories.  Their  nature  and 
ends  call  not  only  for  impartiality,  but  for  devotion 
and  spiritual-mindedness ;  and  he  who  has  not  the 
gift  of  addressing  his  brethren  with  fluent  utterance, 
will  perform  a  far  nobler  service  in  looking  above 
men,  to  address  a  throne  of  grace,  and  entreat  the 
Head  of  the  church  to  direct  his  servants  by  hia 
Spirit,  and  crown  their  efforts  with  his  blessing. 

*  John  vii.  24. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  109 


PAET   III. 

QUALIFICATIONS    OF   ELDERS. 

CHAPTER  I. 


The  word  *  elder'  points  to  age,  and  supposes,  even 
in  its  official  use,  that  the  functionaries  so  designated 
are  old  enough  to  have  some  experience.  This  re- 
mark, however,  must  not  be  overstrained.  We  know 
that  attainments  are  not  always  in  the  ratio  of  years; 
and,  if  a  young  man  be  otherwise  qualified  for  the 
eldership,  he  ought  not  to  be  held  disqualified  from 
the  mere  circumstance  of  his  youth.  Timothy  was, 
perhaps,  the  youngest  of  Paul's  coadjutors;  and  yet 
he  appears  to  have  been  the  most  efficient  of  them  all. 
We  need  the  fervour  of  youth  ;  and  if  this  quality  has 
been  well  directed,  and  a  career,  though  brief,  has 
been  usefully  occupied,  the  church  may  freely  elect 
such  of  its  members  to  office,  on  the  principle  that 
they  have  lived  longest  who  have  done  most. 

In  alliance  with  this  qualification  for  the  elder's 
office,  I  may  notice  the  importance  of  having  some 
time  at  one's  disnosal  to  devote  to  its  duties.    A  writer 


110  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

who  has  in  various  ways  done  good  service  to  pres- 
bytery, says  on  this  subject — 'An  indispensable 
requisite  to  the  discharge  of  all  duty  is  time,  and,  we 
may  add,  residence.  At  the  same  time,  let  not  any 
entertain  exaggerated  ideas  on  the  point.  Let  it  not 
be  imagined  that  the  duties  of  the  elder  are  such  as 
seriously  to  encroach  on  one's  leisure.  Where  the 
districts  or  proportions  are  small,  and  this  can  be 
secured  only  by  the  multiplication  of  elders,  a  few 
hours  steadily  devoted  every  week  to  the  parochial 
duty  of  the  elder,  1  have  been  informed  by  those  who 
have  made  successful  trial,  are  sufficient,  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  to  meet  the  leading  moral  and  religious 
wants  of  the  district.'  * 

I  might  multiply  observations  on  such  qualifications 
for  the  eldership ;  but  I  think  it  better  to  speak  of 
others  which  are  less  circumstantial,  and  more  spiritual 
in  their  character. 


CHAPTER  II. 


PIETY. 


The  highest  of  all  requisites  to  the  right  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  an  cider,  is  piety.  This  will  do  much 
alone :  all  things  else,  without  this,  are  nothing.  If 
I  viewed  the  subject  in  the  light  of  argument,  I  would 

*  Eldership   of  the   Church   of  Scotland,   by   the   Rev.    Dr 
Lovimer,  p.  78. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  Ill 

pass  from  this  qualification  after  naming  it ;  for  what 
need  is  there  to  prove  that  religion  is  necessary  to  a 
religious  office-bearer?  That  is  an  axiomatic  proposi- 
tion ;  and  commends  itself  to  acquiescence  by  its  self- 
evident  reasonableness.  But  the  subject  is  now  viewed 
practically ;  and  moral  truth,  to  be  duly  estimated, 
must  not  only  be  heard  and  owned,  but  dwelt  upon. 
I  feel,  too,  that  I  now  touch  the  central  mechanism, 
or  rather  the  very  source  of  all  vital  action  ;  and  that, 
failing  here,  I  should  fail  wholly  in  this  solemn  and 
responsible  service.  I  am  desirous,  therefore,  to  di- 
late a  little  on  this  topic,  if  I  may  thereby  deepen  the 
conviction,  that  elders  should  not  only  be  pious,  but 
eminently  and  devotedly  pious,  and  should  aspire  at 
new  and  unprecedented  attainments  in  the  life  of 
faith. 

True  godliness  is  the  one  thing  needful  to  all ;  and 
there  is  no  escape  from  its  claims  in  shunning  sacred 
office.  Some,  indeed,  who  pay  little  attention  to  re- 
ligion themselves,  remark  very  solemnly  on  the  re- 
sponsibility of  spiritual  guides,  as  if  it  were  a  com- 
mendation of  themselves  to  think  thus  awfully  of 
duties  of  which  the  performance  is  devolved  upon 
others,  and  as  if  it  were  a  palliation,  amounting  almost 
to  exculpation  of  their  heedlessness,  that  they  had 
not  attempted  to  occupy  these  high  places.  This, 
however,  is  poor  consolation.  Have  these  persons,  in 
truth,  estimated  their  merited  perdition,  and,  finding 
it  quite  moderate  and  endurable,  reconciled  them- 
selves to  the  prospect?  There  is  no  scriptural  de- 
lineation   of  future    and    eternal    retribution    which 


112  THE  KLXIN'i  ELDERSHIP. 

would  warrant  in  any  worker  of  evil  such  placid 
expectation  of  its  approach.  Hell  will  be  to  all 
inheriting  it  the  blackness  of  darkness,  an  abode 
of  torment,  where  the  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched.  If  comfort  may  be,  in  any  instance, 
derived  from  minor  accountability  and  desert  of 
punishment,  surely  it  belongs  not  to  privileged 
Britons.  A  clearer  and  fuller  revelation  of  divine 
truth  has  been  imparted  to  us  than  was  possessed  by 
Chorazin  or  Bethsaida ;  and  are  not  all  who  abuse 
higher  opportunities  proportionally  exposed  to  the 
denunciation — 'It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  at  the  judgment,  than  for  you?'*  Still, 
they  who  are  set  over  the  house  of  God  are  under 
very  special  obligations  to  be  themselves  religious. 
They  have  had  many  talents  committed  to  them  ;  and, 
'unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  be 
much  required :  and  to  whom  men  have  committed 
much,  of  him  they  will  ask  the  more.'j 

At  present,  however,  I  speak  of  piety  as  qualifying 
men  for  office,  and  if  the  statement  be  strong,  it  is 
not  extreme,  that  the  simplest  and  most  childlike  piety 
is  the  best  of  all  qualifications,  even  for  the  loftiest 
official  engagements.  All  the  duties  of  an  elder  have 
indissoluble  relation  to  piety,  and  are  so  dependent 
on  its  stimulus  and  succours,  that  they  must  fade  or 
flourish  with  it.  Individual  godliness  here  enters  so 
much  into  official  fitness,  that  it  is  often  impossible  to 
discriminate  them.  The  remark  applies  to  teaching 
as  well  as  to  ruling  elders.  It  might  not  seem,  at 
*  Luke  x.  14.  t  Luke  xii.  48. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  113 

first  sight,  as  if  goodness  and  oratory  had  a  very 
intimate  connection ;  and  yet  the  close  alliance,  and 
almost  absolute  identification,  of  moral  excellence  and 
true  eloquence  has  been  asserted  by  the  Roman  au- 
thor Quintilian,  in  language  very  remarkable  to  have 
been  spoken  by  a  heathen.  '  Let  our  orator,  then,'  he 
says,  '  be  such  as  Marcus  Cato  has  defined  him — a 
good  man,  expert  in  speaking ;  but  that  which  he  has 
placed  first,  is,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  more 
excellent  and  important  requisite — the  being  a  truly 
good  man.'  *  Again,  he  remarks,  still  more  explicitly, 
in  the  same  connexion — 'Nor  do  I  contend  only  that 
an  orator  should  be  a  good  man  ;  but  that  without 
being  a  good  man  he  cannot  be  an  orator.'f  I  have 
cited  this  opinion  of  the  influence  exerted  by  moral 
frame  on  public  efficiency,  to  strengthen  the  persua- 
sion of  it  where  it  is  still  more  obvious.  Well  may 
we  assert,  not  only  that  the  guardians  of  the  church 
should  be  good  men,  but  that  without  being  good 
men  they  cannot  be  its  guardians.  Their  rarest 
exploits  even,  must  chiefly  result  from  possessing,  in 
rich  abundance,  the  commonest  graces.  Advert  to 
those  great  spiritual  benefactors  through  whom  God 
blessed  the  world  in  their  respective  ages,  and  to  what 
is  their  signal  usefulness  most  remarkably  traceable  ? 

*  '  Sit  ergo  nobis  orator,  quern  instituimus,  is  qui  a  M.  Catono 
finitur,  vir  bonus,  dicendi peritus.  Verum  id  puod  ille  posuit  prius, 
etiam  ipsa  natura  potius  ac  niajus  est,  utique  vir  bonus.'' — De  Inst. 
Ora.  Lib.  12.  cap.  1. 

t  '  Neque  enim  tantum  id  dico,  eum  qui  sit  orator,  virttm  bonuni 
esse  oportere ;  sed  r.e  futurum  quidem  oratorem,  nisi  virum  bonum. 


114  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

They  may  have  possessed  genius,  acuteness,  or  fancy, 
of  an  elevated  order;  but  these,  without  piety,  would 
have  been  inert  or  mischievous.  They  were  mainly 
animated  and  impelled  in  their  philanthropic  career  by 
superior  faith  in  the  divine  testimony — love  to  God 
and  man — realising  anticipations  of  future  glory — in 
short,  by  those  graces  of  the  Spirit  which  are  acces- 
sible and  indispensable  alike  to  teachers  and  taught. 
If,  too,  we  inquire  by  what  hinderances  their  efficiency 
was  mostly  impaired,  it  will  appear  that  these  were  not 
so  much  intellectual  as  moral.  The  glaring  transgres- 
sions of  David  and  Peter  need  not  to  be  mentioned — 
appalling  violations  of  universally  incumbent  duty,  by 
which  the  wicked,  to  this  day,  embolden  and  excuse 
themselves  In  the  commission  of  their  wickedness. 

To  adduce  less  flagrant  examples,  no  character  ap- 
pears more  blameless  and  amiable  in  the  inspired 
#tnnals  of  imperfect  men,  than  that  of  Daniel.  No 
specific  act  of  iniquity  is  recorded  against  him.  Yet 
he  participated  largely  in  prevalent  calamity.  And 
why?  Was  it  from  any  defect  in  his  prophetic 
powers? — any  shortcoming  in  extraordinary  endow- 
ments? His  own  explanation  is,  '  Neither  have  we 
obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord  our  God,  to  walk  in  his 
laws,  which  he  set  before  us  by  his  servants  the  pro- 
phets. Yea,  all  Israel  have  transgressed  thy  law,  even 
by  departing,  that  they  might  not  obey  thy  voice ; 
therefore  the  curse  is  poured  upon  us,  and  the  oath 
that  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  the  servant  of 
God,  because  we  have  sinned  against  him.'*  The 
*  Dan.  ix.  10,  11. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  115 

apostle  of  the  Gentiles  laboured  abundantly,  and  with 
distinguished  success.  If,  in  the  view  of  his  mighty 
achievements,  one  could  ask  why  he  did  not  accom- 
plish still  more?  the  answer  would  be  found  in  such 
sayings  as  these  :  *  In  me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,  dvvelleth 
no  good  thing ;  for  to  will  is  present  with  me,  but  how 
to  perform  that  which  is  good,  I  find  not:  for  the 
good  that  I  would,  I  do  not,  but  the  evil  which  I  would 
not,  that  I  do.'  *  Modern  history  furnishes  similar 
attestations.  Not  to  speak  of  such  lapses  as  Cran- 
mer's  recantation  of  Protestantism,  or  Calvin's  alleged 
participation  in  the  cruel  death  of  Servetus—  the  in- 
juriousness  of  which  to  the  cause  of  truth  is  too 
obvious  and  notorious  to  require  more  than  passing 
mention — we  find  all  the  Reformers,  in  their  autobio- 
graphical sketches,  lamenting  their  defective  piety, 
and  ascribing  to  this  cause  their  dispiriting  repulses 
and  disappointments.  '  I  have  done  somewhat,'  says 
Knox,  '  but  not  according  to  my  duty.'  '  He  acknow- 
ledges,' says  M'Crie,  abridging  his  MS.  letters,  '  that 
in  public  ministrations  he  had  been  deficient  in  fer- 
vency and  fidelity,  in  impartiality  and  diligence ;  and 
that  his  conscience  now  accused  him  of  not  having 
been  sufficiently  plain  in  admonishing  offenders.'! 
Similar  citations  might  be  adduced  in  great  numbers, 
all  showing  that  these  great  and  good  men  partially 
failed,  not  from  wanting  ability  and  facilities,  but  by 
relaxing  application,  or  resenting  injury,  or  compro- 
mising conviction,  or  in  some  such  way  transgressing 
the  common  law  of  Christ. 
*  Rom.  vii.  18,  etc.         f  M'Crie's  Life  of  Knox,  vol.  i.  p.  25. 


116  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

It  is  one  of  the  saddest  tokens  of  ecclesiastical  de* 
clension,  when  ungodly  ministers  and  elders  come  to 
be  relished  or  endured.  Even  in  these  cases,  it  is 
not  so  much  that  piety  is  wholly  and  avowedly  dis- 
pensed with,  as  that  the  practical  standard  of  it  is 
reduced  and  shrivelled.  Apostacy  veils  its  favour 
for  these  reprobate  functionaries,  under  a  professed 
disapproval  of  their  accusers  as  acrimonious  and  un- 
charitable— all  implying  that  genuine  piety  is  neces- 
sary in  such  office-bearers;  that  respect  is  due  to 
them  only  on  the  supposition  of  its  being  possessed ; 
and  that  a  disproval  of  its  existence  would  divest 
them,  even  in  the  estimation  of  the  profligate,  of 
all  title  to  excuse  or  sufferance.  Those  elders  among 
us  who  labour  in  word  and  doctrine,  would  do  well 
to  lay  solemnly  to  heart  these  admonitory  considera- 
tions. If  we  be  not  pious,  and  if  this  were  known, 
our  ministrations  would  be  abhorred.  Suppose  a 
minister,  by  some  infallible  criterion,  shown  to  be 
irreligious,  a  total  stranger  to  vital  godliness,  and 
the  prey,  as  all  unrenewed  men  are,  of  depraved 
sentiments  and  lusts,  could  such  an  instructor,  amid 
the  certain  knowledge  of  his  true  character,  obtain 
a  hearing  or  preserve  his  station?  Allow  him  the 
finest  genius,  the  most  finished  oratory,  yea,  ap- 
plication the  most  insense,  and  energy  the  most 
indomitable,  still,  what  would  all  these  avail  the 
acknowledged  and  convicted  impostor?  Think  of 
the  sorrow  or  scorn  which  must  pervade  an  assem- 
bly, in  hearing  him  elaborately  prove  what  they 
know  him  not  to  believe,  and  earnestly  recommend 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  117 

what  they  knew  him  not  to  esteem,  and  awfully 
denounce  what  they  knew  him  not  to  dislike,  and  im- 
ploringly inculcate  what  they  knew  him  habitually  to 
neglect!  A  comedian  or  buffoon  may  be  applauded; 
he  performs  to  spectators  like  himself;  he  avows  his 
dissimulation,  of  which  the  perfection  is  his  praise ; 
and  his  admitted  aim  is  simply  to  amuse.  But  how 
shall  the  man  be  borne  with,  who,  in  practising  as 
thorough  mimicry,  perverts  religion  into  his  mask, 
and  the  pulpit  into  his  stage,  and  the  church  of 
Christ  into  his  auditory,  avowing  all  the  while  sim- 
plicity and  godly  sincerity,  citing  revelation  as  his 
sanction,  and  God  as  his  witness !  Were  such  a 
man  to  appear  in  his  true  colours,  his  exhibition 
would  be  detested  by  all;  'men  would  clap  their 
hands  at  him,  and  hiss  him  out  of  his  place."*  The 
delineation  applies  with  scarcely  diminished  force  to 
ruling  elders.  If  their  piety  were  disproved,  how 
could  their  presidency  be  tolerated,  and  who  could 
see,  without  shuddering,  a  profane  hand  bear  the 
symbols  of  Christ's  sacrifice  to  the  guests  at  his  table? 
Such  an  exposure  can  rarely  occur.  A  measure  of 
dubiety  is  wisely  cast  over  our  state  and  condition, 
to  bound  alike  our  approval  and  condemnation  of 
fellow-men,  either  of  which  might  do  injury  by  ex- 
cess. But  though  the  outward  effect  is  thus  modified, 
the  case  is  not  essentially  changed.  That  conduct  is 
not  less  nefarious  for  being  obscured,  which,  if  it  were 
only  developed  in  its  naked  and  vivid  deformity, 
would  elicit  such  execrations.     Though  man  cannot 

*  Job  xxvii.  23. 
H 


118  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

discern  it,  God  can;  and  what  are  the  plaudits  of  a 
world  worth,  while  he  who  made  all  worlds  is  be- 
holding and  abominating  the  secret  fault?  The  day, 
too,  is  coming,  when  he  shall  remove  the  veil  that  is 
upon  all  faces,  when  he  shall  try  every  man's  work  of 
what  kind  it  is,  and  disclose  its  hidden  elements  to  an 
observant  universe.  Then  shall  the  profane  usurpers 
of  sacred  office,  who,  like  Satan,  transformed  them- 
selves into  angels  of  light,  stand  publicly  detected — 
the  detection  more  tremendous  for  having  been  de- 
ferred, presenting  the  more  guilt  and  incurring  the 
more  anguish  and  ignominy;  and  while  the  Judge  of 
all  convicts  the  holiest  pretensions  of  basest  hypocrisy 
and  perfidy,  and  glorious  saints  and  seraphs  contem- 
plate the  conviction  with  indignant  loathing,  com- 
mensurate with  their  faultless  purity,  how  shall  the 
miserable  culprits,  who  used  to  court  ostentatious 
publicity  and  celebrity,  call  upon  the  rocks  and  moun- 
tains to  cover  them,  and  feel  as  if  hell  itself  would  be 
desirable,  if  its  closing  mouth  would  somewhat  shelter 
them  from  such  divine,  universal,  and  overwhelming 
reprobation ! 

This  is  strong  language;  but  God  forbid  we  should 
seek  relief  from  dreadful  realities  in  gentle  designations. 
Let  our  comfort  be  found  in  fleeing  from  'the  wrath 
to  come/  and  'laying  hold  on  eternal  life,'  in  making 
personal  and  habitual  application  to  the  'blood  of 
sprinkling,'  and  proving  the  genuineness  of  our  in- 
terest in  Christ,  by  the  excellence  and  amplitude  of 
its  fruits. 

We  are  much  in  danger  of  taking  our  piety  too 


THE  KUL1NG  ELDERSHIP.  119 

readily  for  granted.  Office-bearers  in  the  church  are 
especially  exposed  to  this  temptation.  A  philosopher, 
versed  in  the  sciences,  is  necessarily  acquainted  with 
their  simple  and  primary  elements;  and  so  a  superin- 
tendent of  the  church,  a  judge  and  guardian  of  the 
qualification  of  its  members,  can  hardly  suppose  him- 
self devoid  of  that  knowledge  which  every  babe  in 
Christ  possesses,  and  which  is  supposed  in  every  ser- 
vice which  he  performs,  and  every  sentence  which  he 
utters.  Then,  all  his  friends  and  acquaintances,  and 
christian  society,  and  the  community  in  general,  give 
him  credit,  as  they  ought,  in  charitable  construction, 
for  unfeigned  godliness;  and  how  hard  is  it  to  distrust 
this  concurrent  testimony,  when  it  is  all  in  favour 
of  ourselves!  It  might  seem  as  if  the  piety  of  our 
elders  were  demonstrated  by  the  very  terms  on  which 
they  hold  their  office  ;  they  serve  the  church  gratui  • 
tously ;  and  what  else  than  sincere  and  decided  religion 
could  prompt  and  carry  on  their  disinterested  labours? 
The  genuineness  of  piety  is  not  safely  inferred  from 
such  premises.  Ungodly  men  have  crept  into  spiritual 
office  in  every  age — not  excepting  the  periods  of 
fiercest  persecution.  Let  none  rest,  then,  in  such 
fallacious  evidence,  but  let  all  of  us  give  all  'diligence 
to  making  our  calling  and  election  sure.'* 

To  secure  and  cherish  piety,  we  must  use  the  means 
appointed  for  the  end.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  come 
into  contact  with  these  means  in  relation  to  others ; 
we  must  frequently  engage  them  expressly  for  our- 
selves. The  word  of  God  should  be  read  daily,  with 
*  2  Pet.  i.  10. 


120  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

an  immediate  view  to  personal  profiting.  A  master 
in  Israel  must  become  as  a  little  child,  that  he  may 
enter  the  kingdom,  and  as  a  'new-born  babe,  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  he  may  grow 
thereby.'* 

The  importance  of  prayer  cannot  be  too  highly 
estimated.  In  this  exercise  our  Lord  spent  whole 
nights.  The  npostles  considered  its  demands  upon 
their  time  commensurate  with  those  of  preaching,  and 
entitled  to  be  mentioned  first:  'We  will  give  our- 
selves continually  to  prayer,  and  the  ministry  of  the 
word. '"j-  The  constancy  of  Paul's  petitioning  is  mani- 
fest from  its  particularity:  'For  God  is  my  witness, 
whom  I  serve  with  my  spirit  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son, 
that,  without  ceasing,  I  make  mention  of  you  always 
in  my  prayers.'^:  '  I  cease  not  to  give  thanks  for 
you,  making  mention  of  you  in  my  prayers.'§  'We 
give  thanks  to  God  always  for  you  all,  making  mention 
of  you  in  our  prayers.' ||  His  epistles  abound  with 
such  statements;  and  it  will  be  well  for  us,  and  we!l 
for  our  congregations,  if  they  find  an  echo  in  our  ex- 
perience. Some  of  the  Reformers  speak  of  having 
assigned  several  hours  daily  to  prayer,  though  it  be 
difficult  to  reconcile  the  averment  with  their  numerous 
and  onerous  occupations  ;  and  Luther,  before  being  as 
enlightened  in  the  faith  as  he  afterwards  became,  was 
wont  to  express  the  assistance  which  he  derived  from 
prayer  for  other  duties  by  his  well-known  maxim — 
'  Bene  precasse   est  bene  studuisse  ' — to    have    well 

*  1  Pet.  ii.  2.  t  Acts  vi.  4. 

t  Rom.  i.  9.  §  Eph.  i.  16.  ||  1  These,  i.  2. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  121 

j  rayed  is  to  have  well  studied.  The  following  passage 
on  prayer  occurs  in  Fuller's  sermon,  delivered  at  the 
funeral  of  the  Rev.  J.  Sutcliff : — '  One  of  the  sentences 
uttered  by  your  deceased  pastor,  when  drawing  near 
his  end  was,  "  I  wish  I  had  prayed  more."  This  was 
one  of  the  weighty  sayings  which  are  not  unfrequently 
uttered  in  the  view  of  the  solemn  realities  of  eternity. 
This  wish  has  often  occurred  to  me  since  his  departure 
as  equally  applicable  to  myself.  ...  In  reviewing 
my  own  life,  /  wish  I  had  prayed  more  than  I  have  fur 
the  success  of  the  gospel.  I  have  seen  enough  to 
furnish  me  with  matter  of  thanksgiving ;  but,  had  I 
prayed  more,  I  might  have  seen  more.  I  wish  I  had 
prayed  more  for  the  salvation  (f  those  about  me,  and 
who  are  given  me  in  charge.  When  the  father  of  the 
lunatic  doubted  whether  Jesus  could  do  anything  for 
him,  he  was  told  in  answer  that  if  he  could  believe, 
all  things  were  possible.  On  hearing  this,  he  burst 
into  tears,  saying,  "  Lord,  I  believe :  help  thou  mine 
unbelief."  He  seems  to  have  understood  our  Lord  as 
suggesting  that,  if  the  child  was  not  healed,  it  would 
not  be  owing  to  any  want  of  power  in  him,  but  to  his 
own  unbelief.  This  might  well  cause  him  to  weep 
and  exclaim  as  he  did.  The  thought  of  his  unbelief 
causing  the  death  of  his  child  was  distressing.  The 
same  thought  has  occurred  to  me  as  applicable  to  the 
neglect  of  the  prayer  of  faith.  Have  I  not  by  this 
guilty  negligence,  been  accessory  to  the  destruction  of 
some  that  are  dear  to  me ;  and  were  I  equally  con- 
cerned for  the  souls  of  my  connexions  as  he  was  for 
the  life  of  his  child,  should  I  not  weep  with  him  ?     I 


122  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

wish  I  had  prayed  more  for  my  own  soul.  I  might 
then  have  enjoyed  much  more  communion  with  God. 
The  gospel  affords  the  same  grounds  for  spiritual 
enjoyments  as  it  did  to  the  first  christians.  I  wish  I 
had  prayed  more  than  I  have  in  all  my  undertakings: 
I  might  then  have  had  my  steps  more  directed  by 
God,  and  attended  with  fewer  deviations  from  his  will. 
There  is  no  intercourse  with  God  without  prayer.  It 
is  thus  that  we  "  talk  with  God,  and  have  our  con- 
versation in  heaven. " '  Stimulated  by  these  examples 
and  counsels,  let  us  be  'instant  in  prayer.'  The 
happy  result  will  show  that  the  '  prayer  of  faith '  has 
still  power  with  God,  and  prevails, — that  he  will 
'  regard  the  prayer  of  the  destitute,  and  not  despise 
their  prayer.'  *  In  response  to  our  entreaties,  he  'will 
create  in  us  a  clean  heart,  and  renew  within  us  a 
right  spirit — not  casting  us  away  from  his  presence,  or 
taking  his  Holy  Spirit  away  from  us ;  but  restoring 
unto  us  the  joys  of  his  salvation ;  and  upholding  us 
with  his  free  Spirit.  Then  shall  we  teach  transgres- 
sors his  ways ;  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto 
him.'f 


CHAPTER    III. 

KNOWLEDGE. 


Ruling  elders  do  not  pass  through  a  collegiate  course 

in  preparation  for  office,  and  they  are  not  expected  to 

be  deeply  learned.     They  ought,  however,  to  sustain 

*  Ps.  cii.  17.  f  Ps.  li.  10. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  123 

and  to  deserve  the  character  of  being  well-informed 
men.  Without  a  measure  of  knowledge,  both  theological 
and  general,  surpassing  the  average  attainments  of 
society,  they  must  discharge  very  imperfectly  their 
important  duties.  We  have  seen  that  they  have  to 
comfort  the  afflicted,  to  remonstrate  with  the  offending, 
to  instruct  the  young,  to  test  the  knowledge  of  others ; 
and  how  shall  they  do  all  this,  if  they  are  not  themselves 
'  well  instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of  God  V  There 
are  other  duties  belonging  to  the  eldership,  for  the 
right  fulfilment  of  which  it  is  still  more  needful  that 
they  give  themselves  to  reading.  They  sit  as  members 
of  presbyteries,  for  example,  when  discourses,  and  other 
exercises  of  students  are  judged  of;  and  what  a  power 
would  the  appropriate  remarks  of  such  judges  possess 
in  recommending  to  students  juster  views,  or  better 
taste,  or  a  more  disciplined  accuracy?  Even  were 
they  not  to  speak  at  all  on  such  occasions,  of  what 
importance  is  it  for  elders  to  give  an  enlightened 
vote  on  the  proficiency  of  students,  and  the  licensing 
of  probationers  ? 

Elders  should  read  those  works  which  christians  in 
general  read,  in  consideration  of  their  superior  excel- 
lence, that  has  won  for  them  a  wide  circulation  ;  and 
also  in  order  not  to  be  found  ignorant  where  ignorance 
would  be  most  discreditable.  They  would  be  reason- 
ably ashamed  if  they  had  to  answer,  No,  when  asked 
whether  they  had  ever  read  the  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
or  Boston's  Fourfold  State,  or  Doddridge's  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul,  or  James'  Anxious 
Inquirer. 


124  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

But  an  elder's  reading  should  be  considerably  in- 
fluenced by  his  official  station.  The  best  commentaries 
on  the  scriptures,  the  best  systems  of  theology,  the 
best  histories  of  the  church,  have  all  special  claims 
on  his  careful  perusal.  Those  books  which  the  church 
has  adopted  as  standards  of  its  faith,  or  seasonable 
exhibitions  of  doctrine  and  duty,  or  compends  of  the 
laws  and  forms  which  regulate  its  government,  ought 
to  be  ever  within  his  reach  for  consultation  and  re- 
ference. 

But,  above  all,  let  elders  study  the  bible.  '  The 
whole  scriptures,'  says  Dr  Dick,  '  are  delivered  to  us 
as  the  rule  of  our  faith  and  obedience,  and  are  the 
instrument  which  God  employs  for  the  conversion  of 
sinners,  and  the  advancement  of  the  divine  life  in 
their  souls.  They  are  the  light  which  conducts  them 
to  the  Saviour,  and  guides  them  in  the  way  of  salva- 
tion. There  are,  indeed,  other  religious  institutions ; 
but  as  they  are  founded  on  the  wTord,  so,  as  far  as 
they  contribute  to  accomplish  this  end,  their  efficacy 
is  derived  from  it.  Prayer  is  an  eminent  means  of 
obtaining  spiritual  blessings;  but  the  directory  of 
prayer  is  the  word,  from  which  alone  wTe  learn  what 
blessings  we  should  ask,  and  what  are  the  grounds  on 
which  we  may  hope  for  success.  The  sacraments, 
also,  are  means  of  salvation ;  but  they  would  be  unin- 
telligible, unless  their  design,  and  the  import  of  the 
symbols  and  actions,  had  been  explained;  and  we 
should  have  no  encouragement  to  use  them,  if  we  had 
not  been  assured  thnt  they  are  seals  of  the  new  cove- 
nant, and  the  Holy  Spirit  had  been  promised  to  ren- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  125 

der  them  effectual.'*  I  do  not  say  that  elders  alone 
should  read  the  bible,  for  all  are  bound  to  do  so,  what- 
ever be  their  history,  circumstances,  or  position;  but 
I  do  say  that  they  should  read  it  more  because  they 
are  elders.  From  all  official  doubts,  and  fears,  and 
difficulties,  let  them  take  refuge  in  revelation.  Its 
aid  is  boundless  and  ceaseless.  Would  you  pray 
with  copiousness  and  fluency? — then  search  the  scrip- 
tures. Would  you  address  a  word  in  season  to  him 
that  is  weary? — then  search  the  scriptures.  Would 
you  instruct  effectively  your  own  families,  or  schools, 
and  classes? — then  search  the  scriptures.  Would  you 
repel  triumphantly  the  artillery  of  error  by  weapons 
not  carnal? — then  search  the  scriptures.  These 
scriptures  are  the  'good  seed;' — these  scriptures  are 
the  'wells  of  salvation;' — these  scriptures  are  God's 
'lively  oracles;' — these  scriptures  are  'the  sword  of 
the  Spirit;'  and  all  this  multiplicity  of  figures  shows 
that  none  of  them  is  equal  to  its  subject;  that  they 
are  all  needed,  and  all  inadequate  to  denote  the  vast 
and  diversified  value  of  the  word  of  God.  Wherever, 
then,  you  may  be  wanting,  and  wherever  you  may 
be  weak,  seek,  above  all  things,  to  be  'mighty  in  the 
scriptures.' 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SOUNDNESS  IN  THE  FAITH. 


Of  course  every  one  thinks  his  own  belief  orthodox.  \ 
But  Presbyterian  churches  have  symbolic  books;  and 

*  Lectures,  vol.  iv.  pp.  77,  78. 


126  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

elders,  when  ordained  to  office,  solemnly  avow  ac* 
quiescence  in  the  doctrinal  principles  which  these 
books  contain.  The}'  would  be  guilty,  then,  of  heinous 
dishonesty,  if  they  accepted  office  in  a  church  and  did 
not  hold  the  doctrines  of  scripture,  set  forth  in  its 
subordinate  standards.  It  is  not  enough,  however, 
that  an  elder  coldly  assent  to  a  Calvinistic  creed.  He 
should  be  a  devoted  friend  of  evangelical  religion,  and 
against  all  contrary  errors  'should  earnestly  contend 
for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  unto  the 
saints.'*  These  words,  however,  would  be  miscon- 
strued if  they  were  explained  as  sanctioning  a  viru- 
lent advocacy  of  gospel  truth.  'Be  ready  always/ 
says  an  apostle,  'to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that 
asketh  you,  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you  with 
meekness  and  fear.'j  Thus  speaks  the  apostle  of  the 
circumcision;  and  the  same  principle  is  enunciated 
by  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  when  he  exhorts,  that 
'speaking  the  truth  in  love,  we  may  grow  up  into 
him  in  all  things,  which  is  the  Head,  even  Christ.' J 
Let  us  show  that  we  have  the  truth  of  Christ  by  dis- 
playing the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  ever  act  as  remem- 
bering that,  although  we  should  have  a  speculative 
acquaintance  with  his  truth,  yet,  'if  any  man  have 
not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.'  And  are 
we,  then,  to  be  men-pleasers,  and  avoid  offence  by 
compromising  faithfulness?  Assuredly  not.  We  are 
to  maintain  the  truth  at  all  hazards;  and  always  de- 
fend it  in  its  own  spirit,  just  that  our  defence  of  it 
may  be  more  forcible  and  more  effectual.  When  so 
♦  Jude  3.  t  1  Pet.  iii.  15.  J  Eph.  iv.  15. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  127 

many  crude  theories  are  afloat,  and  old  heresies  in  a 
new  guise  are  carrying  away  such  multitudes  of  the 
simple,  it  is  especially  important  that  office-bearers  in 
the  church  hear  and  ponder  these  words  of  Paul  to 
the  elders  of  Ephesus:  'Wherefore  I  take  you  to 
record  this  day  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all 
men.  For  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all 
the  counsel  of  God.  Take  heed  therefore  unto  your- 
selves, and  to  all  the  flock,  over  the  which  the  Holy 
(ihost  hath  made  you  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of 
God,  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood. 
For  I  know  this,  that  after  my  departing  shall  griev- 
ous wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock. 
Also  of  your  own  selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  per- 
verse things  to  draw  away  disciples  after  them.  There- 
fore watch,  and  remember,  that,  by  the  space  of  three 
years  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and  day 
with  tears.'*  The  importance  of  this  topic  would 
dispose  me  to  discuss  it  more  fully.  But  I  withhold 
any  additional  remarks  of  my  own  to  make  room  for 
the  following  important  and  seasonable  observations. 
Dr  Heugh,  in  pointing  out  the  particular  errors 
against  which  the  melancholy  circumstances  of  the 
Genevan  church  are  well  fitted  to  guard  the  British 
churches,  says: — 'The  first  I  notice  is  the  danger  of 
allowing  unsound  doctrines  to  enter  into  a  church. 
The  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  the  word  of  the  truth  of 
the  gospel,  is  a  sacred  trust,  committed  by  God  to  his 
people,  than  which,  one  more  momentous  and  holy 
cannot  be  confided  to  man ;  and  the  fidelity  of  the 
*  Acts  xx.  2G-31. 


128  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

church  is  to  be  proved  by  the  vigilance  with  which 
she  guards  this  grand  deposit.  "That  good  thing 
which  was  committed  unto  thee,  keep  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  dwelleth  in  us,"  said  Paul  to  one  of  the 
primitive  teachers.  "  Thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my 
patience,"  was  the  approbation  of  our  Lord,  bestowed 
on  one  of  the  primitive  churches.  "Contend  earnestly 
for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  is  a  divine 
command  to  the  whole  body  of  the  faithful  in  Christ 
Jesus.  .  .  .  The  Genevan  church,  and  too  many 
of  the  continental  churches  as  well  as  she,  are,  indeed, 
sad  and  solemn  warnings  to  us,  warnings,  reiterating 
those  long  ago  supplied  by  the  degeneracy  of  many 
churches  which  were  planted  and  watered  by  the 
apostles  of  Christ — warnings  to  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  to  "  hold  fast  the  faith,"  to  "  take  heed  to 
themselves  and  to  the  doctrine,"  and  to  "  continue  " 
to  do  so,  if  they  would  save  themselves  and  them  that 
hear  them ;  and  I  will  add,  warnings  to  the  whole 
christian  body,  to  "  prove  all  things,  and  to  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good."  It  appears  that  to  scarcely  any 
one  subject  do  the  inspired  apostles  more  abundantly 
direct  the  primitive  churches  than  to  this,  nearly  all 
their  epistles  containing  solemn  admonitions  against 
corrupting,  or  departing  from,  the  faith  ;  which,  I  am 
sure,  were  never  more  needed  by  the  British,  as  well 
as  the  continental  churches,  than  at  this  day.  For, 
to  take  but  one  example,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say, 
that  the  vast  Hierarchial  Establishment  of  England, 
is  at  this  moment  nearer  to  the  deadly  errors,  the 
debasing  superstitions,  and  the  befooling  mummeries 


THE  RULING  EI.Dm&HI*.  129 

of  Popery,  than  a  century  ago,  Geneva  was  near  to 
Unitarianism  and  Neology.  IC  has  been  stated 
publicly,  and  without  contradiction,  by  one  of  the 
most  devout  and  cautious  among  the  ministers  of 
London,  at  a  public  meeting  recently  held  in  that 
metropolis,  that  of  the  eighteen  thousand  clergy  of 
various  orders  connected  with  the  Church  of  England, 
not  more  than  three  thousand  could  be  found  willing 
to  subscribe  any  declaration  whatever  against  the  new 
phase  of  Popery,  designated  Puseyism.  Yes,  the 
enemy  is  sowing  tares  over  all  the  British  soil,  the 
most  unfit  of  all  seasons,  assuredly,  for  men  to  sleep.'* 

There  are  other  qualifications  for  the  eldership 
which  might  have  been  introduced  and  discussed  with 
great  propriety.  But  I  have  already  given  a  sample 
sufficiently  large,  perhaps,  to  appear  formidable ;  and 
of  a  nature  so  fundamental  and  comprehensive,  that 
they  cannot  be  dutifully  pondered  without  suggesting 
all  the  rest. 

After  showing  how  much  elders  have  to  <£o,  and 
how  much  they  have  to  learn,  it  is  time  to  direct 
their  attention  to  more  encouraging  view*  «*■'  f>:»ir 
office. 

*  State  of  Religion  in  Geneva  and  Belgium. 


130  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 


PART   IV. 

ENCOURAGEMENTS  OF  ELDERS. 

Elders  have  many  and  great  encouragements  in 
executing  their  office.  All  of  them  centre  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  of  divine  appointment.  It  has  been  impres- 
sively said  of  the  ministry,  and  may  with  equal 
truth  be  affirmed  of  the  eldership — '  This  subordinate 
rule  is  all  derived  from  Christ.  It  is  the  Lord  who 
makes  them  rulers  in  his  household.  In  that  family 
none  has  authority,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term, 
but  He.  No  king,  no  parliament,  no  man,  no  body 
of  men,  has  any  right  to  constitute  men  stewards  over 
the  family  of  God.  That  belongs  to  Him  who  is 
Jehovah,  "  set  as  his  King  on  the  holy  hill  of  Zion," 
to  Him  who  is  set  as  "  a  Son  over  his  own  house.'' 
All  church  power  comes  forth  from  Him.  The 
steward  or  overseer,  though  chosen,  if  such  be  the 
appointment  of  the  Master,  by  his  fellow- servants,  is 
to  be  guided  in  managing  the  household  not  by  their 
will,  but  by  the  will  of  their  common  Lord.'* 

Hence'  it  follows, — 

1.  That  the  office  is  honourable  in  itself.  They  who 
would  not  be  the  servants  of  subjects,  are  yet  proud 

*  Discourse  on  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Balmer,  D.D.,  by 
the  Rev.  John  Brown,  D.D.,  Edinburgh,  p.  25. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  131 

to  be  in  the  service  of  a  sovereign  ;  and  the  greater 
and  more  illustrious  a  sovereign  is,  the  more  eager 
are  the  ambitious  to  fill  places  around  the  throne. 
Shall  it  be  reckoned  no  distinction,  then,  no  gratifying 
and  animating  distinction,  to  hold  a  public  trust  from 
the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords — from  Him  who 
is  God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever  I  Elders  may  have 
temporal  callings,  and  spend  much  of  their  time  even 
in  manual  labours ;  but  all  this  held  true  of  Paul, 
without  invalidating  the  authority  and  dignity  of  a 
higher  vocation.  They  may  be  called  lay  elders,  as 
if  to  divest  them  of  all  ecclesiastical  status;  but 
human  appellations  cannot  annul  or  modify  a  divine 
institution;  and  an  elder,  entering  his  ecclesiastical 
functions  in  a  scriptural  manner,  and  cherishing  the 
spirit  while  performing  the  duties  of  his  post,  is  as 
truly  an  office-bearer  in  the  church  as  were  the 
prophets  and  priests  under  a  former  economy,  or  the 
apostles  and  evangelists  under  a  newer  and  better 
dispensation.  He  is  the  servant  of  the  most  high 
God  !  What  a  power  is  there!  what  an  impulse  in 
that  single  consideration  !  If  his  heart  misgive  him, 
at  any  time,  in  struggling  with  official  difficulties ;  if 
he  be  tempted  to  be  ashamed  or  dismayed  under  the 
odium  and  sneers  to  which  fidelity  may  sometimes 
subject  him,  he  may  well  be  reassured  and  emboldened 
on  looking  at  his  commission,  his  divine  commission, 
and  seeing  it  subscribed  by  the  King's  own  hand,  and 
sealed  with  the  King's  own  signet ! 

From  the  fact  that  the  office  is  of  divine  appoint- 
ment, it  follows, — 


132  THE  4d*&-&  ELDEKSHIP. 

2.  That  all  its  enga^ajients  are  of  a  beneficent  c7ia- 
racler.  They  must  bs  worthy  of  that  God  who 
assigns  them  ;  and  we  know  that  'the  Lord  is  good; 
that  his  mercy  is  everlasting;  and  that  his  truth  en- 
dureth  to  all  generations.'  *  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  God 
may  punish  transgressors  by  the  instrumentality  of  his 
servants.  We  find  angels  not  unfrequently  employed 
in  destroying  his  enemies;  and  the  civil  magistrate  is 
'the  minister  of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath 
upon  him  that  doeth  evil.'-f  Even  in  these  cases  the 
honoured  agents  of  Jehovah  have  ample  assurance 
that  their  commission  is  not  malevolent — that  in  doing 
what  is  commanded,  they  do  what  is  right  in  itself, 
and  will  prove  blissful  in  its  tendencies — and  that 
when  the  end  and  tlie  effect  are  fully  developed,  these 
will  warrant,  and  from  all  pure  intelligences  elicit, 
the  ejaculation,  '  Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works, 
Lord  God  Almighty;  just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou 
King  of  saints !  Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  O  Lord, 
and  glorify  thy  name?  for  thou  only  art  holy,  for  all 
nations  shall  come  and  worship  before  thee,  for  thy 
judgments  are  made  manifest! "J 

But  the  work  assigned  to  elders  is  not  of  this 
avenging  nature.  Their  office  finds  its  place  in  a 
great  scheme  of  mercy,  and  ranks  with  the  institu- 
tions of  that  gospel  which  brings  glad  tidings  of  great 
joy  to  all  people.  They  have  to  be  'with'  Christ, 
and  to  'gather  with'§  him,  when  he  comes  in  his  pro- 
vidence as  he  has  come  in  person,  to  seek  and  to  save 

*  Psalm  c.  5.  t  &>m.  xiii.  4.  %  Rev.  xv.  3,  4. 

§  Matt.  xii.  3. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  133 

that  which  is  lost.  It  is  theirs,  more  especially,  to 
act  under  the  Great  Shepherd,  when  'he  calleth  his 
own  sheep  by  name,  and  leadeth  them  out.'*  They 
are  a  gift  from  Christ  to  his  church;  and  as  we  may 
be  sure  that  so  munificent  a  Lord  will  not  make 
paltry  and  unprofitable  presents,  we  are  informed  that 
he  hath  given  these  and  like  functionaries  '  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ:  till  we  all  come 
in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ.'f  To  elders  it  be- 
longs to  tend  the  sheep  for  whom  the  Good  Shepherd 
laid  down  his  life ;  to  inspirit  them  when  they  are 
obedient ;  to  reclaim  them  when  they  are  erring ;  to 
screen  and  protect  them  when  they  are  in  danger.  Is 
there  no  happiness  in  doing  all  this  good  to  those 
whom  Christ  loves  so  tenderly?  The  privilege,  it 
must  be  owned,  is  poorly  appreciated  by  multitudes. 
'AH,'  says  an  apostle,  '  seek  their  own,  not  the  things 
which  are  Jesus  Christ's  ;'|  and  the  averment  made 
of  that  generation  is  too  applicable  to  the  present. 
To  seek,  however,  is  not  to  secure  one's  own.  Satis- 
faction is  too  noble  a  prize  to  be  won  by  selfishness. 
They  who  seek  their  own  may  so  far  succeed ;  they 
may  acquire  their  own  gain,  their  own  fame,  their 
own  power — but  not  their  own  happiness.  When  all 
the  means  are  apparently  grasped,  the  end  still  eludes 
them.  If  wre  would  reach  true  joy,  we  must  cherish 
a  true  philanthropy,  '  not  seeking  our  own  profit,  but 
*  John  x.  3.         f  Eph.  iv.  12,  13.         J  Phil.  ii.  21. 


134  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

the  profit  of  many,  that  they  may  be  saved.'*  What 
we  must  seek  is  the  happiness  of  others,  of  relatives, 
of  friends,  of  the  church,  of  the  world ;  and  while 
theirs  is  sought,  our  own  will  come  unsought,  and 
take  us  by  agreeable  surprise.  To  impose  a  rein  on 
presumptuous  sin,  to  guide  the  step  of  anxious  inquiry, 
to  rear  the  olive  branch  over  subdued  contentions,  to 
shed  a  ray  of  hope  on  the  realms  of  despair,  or  in- 
sinuate a  healing  balm  into  wounded  spirits — that  is 
wealth,  that  is  victory,  that  is  bliss;  and  that  is  the 
daily  service  of  a  sincere  and  strenuous  eldership. 
From  thedi  vine  appointment  ofthisoffice  it  follows — 
3.  That  they  who  fill  it  in  dependence  on  God's 
grace,  are  secured  of  all  needful  assistance  in  dis- 
charging ils  duties.  God  can  give  them  aid  of  an 
external  and  visible  character,  lie  can  make  them 
strong  in  their  pastor,  A  minister  owes  much  to  the 
eldership.  He  should  always  treat  thern  with  per- 
sonal respect ;  he  should  be  always  consulting  them  in 
his  official  measures  ;  he  should  delight  in  vindicating 
them  from  reproaches,  and  cheering  their  constancy 
by  just  commendations;  and  elders  who  are  on  this 
footing  with  their  minister  will  find,  in  his  standing 
and  influence,  their  own  walls  and  bulwarks.  Indeed, 
the  efficiency  of  a  minister  is,  of  itself,  an  invaluable 
help  to  godly  elders.  Their  minds  are  set  on  the  pros- 
perity of  the  congregation  ;  and  when  after  a  time 
perhaps  of  decay  and  trouble,  they  see  jarring  ele- 
ments harmonised,  and  languishing  interests  renovated 
by  the  impulsive  hand  of  high  pastoral  fidelity,  how 
*  1  Cor.  x  31. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  135 

can  they  but  hail  the  benign  dispensation,  and  be  em- 
boldened, in  the  contemplation  of  it,  to  thank  God  and 
take  courage!  Must  it  not  rejoice  their  hearts  to  have 
a  man  after  God's  own  heart  for  their  chosen  teacher 
and  official  fellow-labourer? 

God  can  make  an  elder  strong  in  the  other  mem" 
hers  of  session.  He  can  bring  into  the  office  men 
'full  of  faith  and  power;'*  and  an  elder  who  quailed 
when  he  was  alone,  and  when  he  thought  only  of 
himself,  may  be  ashamed  of  his  timidity,  and  inspired 
with  new  vigour  in  the  assembly  of  his  brethren. 

God  can  encourage  elders  through  the  church  sw- 
perintended  by  them.  The  church  may  do  incalcu- 
lably much  to  inspirit  its  office-bearers.  It  is  a  great 
encouragement  to  them  to  be,  first  of  all,  called  by 
the  Lord's  people  to  the  Lord's  work.  On  this  ground 
it  is  deeply  to  be  lamented  that,  even  where  the  elec- 
tion of  elders  is  perfectly  free,  the  number  who  vote 
is  often  so  limited.  This  narrow  exercise  of  the  suf- 
frage is  injurious  in  many  ways.  It  brings  discredit 
on  christian  liberty  as  of  no  value  in  the  estimation 
of  them  who  have  it;  and  it  enables  any  knot  of  in- 
dividuals to  bring  into  the  session  a  favourite  of  their 
own,  who  may  be  little  qualified  for  the  trust,  and 
very  obnoxious  to  the  congregation  generally.  But 
what  I  chiefly  remark  upon  now  is,  the  discouraging 
effect  of  such  fractional  voting  on  the  elders  elect. 
They  might  recognise  the  voice  of  God  in  the  vote  of 
the  church  ;  but  can  they  recognise  the  vote  of  the 
church  in  some  twenty  or  thirty  uplifted  hands  amid 
*   Acts  vi.  8. 


136  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

hundreds  of  church  members?  On  the  other  handk 
a  well-supported  choice  is  equally  efficacious  for  good. 
It  carries  power  in  its  appeal,  and  is  remembered  with 
a  soothing  and  sustaining  delight  by  elders,  so  chosen, 
to  the  last  day  of  their  life.  If,  then,  the  church 
would  encourage  its  overseers,  let  them  be  borne  into 
office  on  the  full  and  flowing  tide  of  a  congregational 
invitation.  The  church  may  greatly  encourage  its 
elders  after  they  have  been  invested  with  office.  It 
can  support  them  in  the  firm  administration  of  dis- 
cipline, instead  of  seconding  the  resistance  of  wounded 
and  impenitent  pride.  It  can  favourably  entertain  the 
measures  which  they  set  on  foot  for  its  own  immediate 
benefit,  or  the  evengelisation  of  the  world  through  its 
instrumentality;  it  can  defray,  cheerfully  and  liberally, 
the  expense  incurred  by  them  in  representing  its  in- 
terests at  presbyteries  and  synods ;  and  it  might  place 
in  their  hands  a  small  but  select  library  specifically 
adapted  for  their  official  necessities  and  accountabili- 
ties. Labour  becomes  light,  when  performed  for  a 
congregation  thus  '  knowing  them  who  are  over  it  in 
the  Lord,  and  esteeming  them  very  highly  in  love  for 
their  work's  sake.'  * 

God  can  encourage  elders  through  the  visible  fruits 
of  their  labours.  They  may  learn  of  cases  where 
persons,  in  attending  their  prayer  meetings,  have  be- 
come devotional.  The  children  whom  they  have 
trained  in  the  way  in  which  they  should  go,  as  they 
become  old,  may  not  be  departing  from  it;  and  they 
may  have  to  tell  of  those  who  have  passed  from  their 
*  1  Thess.  v.  12,  13. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  137 

youthful  classes  to  the  superintendence  of  the  young, 
to  the  secretaryships  and  treasurerships  of  religious 
associations,  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  at  home, 
or  the  far  off  fields  of  missionary  enterprise  abroad. 
They  may  know  of  sighs,  through  God's  blessing  or: 
their  words  of  comfort,  transformed  into  songs;  or 
may  meet  in  the  streets  the  patterns  of  sobriety  whom 
their  timely  remonstrance  had  snatched  from  dissipa- 
tion. These  are  seals  of  office  which  sparkle  with 
light  from  heaven,  and  lift  the  heart  to  the  Father  of 
lights,  whose  image  is  reflected  in  his  own  credentials! 

But,  suppose  that  all  these  encouragements  should 
fail;  suppose  that  elders  should  be  weak  in  their 
minister,  impeded  and  opposed  in  brethren,  disap- 
pointed and  grieved  in  the  congregation,  and  unac- 
quainted with  any  fruits  of  righteousness  produced 
by  their  labours;  even  on  this  extreme  supposition, 
God  can  still  uphold  them  by  his  o?im  Spirit  '  work- 
ing in  them  mightily.'  *  If  they  object  faint-heartedly, 
'Ah,  Lord  God!  behold,  I  cannot  speak;  for  I  am  a 
child,'  he  can  reply,  '  Say  not,  I  am  a  child  :  for  thou 
shalt  go  to  all  that  I  shall  send  thee,  and  whatsoever 
I  command  thee,  thou  shalt  speak.  Be  not  afraid  of 
their  faces:  for  I  am  with  thee  to  deliver  thee,  saith 
the  Lord.'f  He  can  make  the  language  of  David 
theirs :  '  I  will  praise  thy  name  for  thy  loving-kind- 
ness, and  for  thy  truth :  for  thou  hast  magnified  thy 
word  above  all  thy  name.  In  the  day  when  I  cried, 
thou  answeredst  me,  and  strengthenedst  me  with 
strength  in   my  soul. 'J     If  they  have  to  relate  with 

*  Col.  i.  29.  f  Jer.  i.  6-8.  %  Ps.  exxxviii.  2,  3. 


138  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Paul — 'No  man  stood  with  me,  but  all  men  forsook 
me,'  they  may  be  enabled  with  him  to  subjoin — 
1  Notwithstandingthe  Lord  stood  with  me,  and  strength- 
ened me;  and  I  was  delivered  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
lion.  And  the  Lord  shall  deliver  me  from  every  evil 
work,  and  will  preserve  me  unto  his  heavenly  king- 
dom :  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen.'  * 
To  be  shut  out  from  earthly  help  is  doubtless  awing ; 
but  if  it  prove  a  shutting  up  to  heavenly  succours, 
the  gain  is  greater  than  the  loss.  Indeed,  the  divine 
faithfulness  cannot  be  fully  appreciated  till  it  is  trusted 
alone,  and  yet  trusted  absolutely ;  and  many  a  time 
has  God  demolished  other  reliances,  that  he  might 
vindicate  the  sufficiency  of  his  unaided  arm.  To 
trust  in  God  only,  and  in  God  wholly;  to  lcok  away 
even  from  his  works,  and  find  a  perfect,  infinite,  and 
eternal  inheritance  in  himself, — this  is  the  victory  of 
faith  and  the  reign  of  grace ;  and  happy  are  they  who 
mourn  if  they  are  to  be  thus  comforted. 

From  the  divine  appointment  of  this  office,  it  fol- 
lows,— 

4.  That  all  who  have  filled  it,  in  its  own  spirit,  have 
borne  testimony  to  its  desirableness.  The  true  servants 
of  Jehovah  have  ever  found  him  a  kind  Master ; 
and  there  '  hath  not  failed  ought  of  any  good  thing 
which  the  Lord  hath  spoken  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  '"j* 
That  elders  find  themselves  happy  in  the  discharge  of 
their  functions  is  in  many  ways  evinced.  Though 
numbers  of  them  have  great  difficulty  in  accepting 
*  2  Tim.  iv.  16-18.  t  Josh.  xxi.  45. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  139 

the  office,  very  few  resign  it  when  it  has  been  accepted 
and  proved  by  them.  The  resignation  of  the  trust 
is  a  very  rare  occurrence.  Does  not  this  show  that 
facts  furnish  a  confutation  of  fears?  Again,  the 
elders  who  appear  most  in  love  with  their  labours  are 
generally  the  first  to  hail  any  scheme  of  enlarged 
usefulness.  And,  in  a  word,  the  dying  attestations  of 
elders  to  the  divine  goodness  often  turn  on  their 
official  experience.  The  comforts  they  have  been 
administering  return  upon  their  own  heads.  The 
courage  they  have  acquired  in  action  remains  with 
them  in  suffering ;  and  the  grace  they  had  secured 
to  make  them  useful  to  others,  is  the  well-spring  of 
their  joy  in  their  own  time  of  need.  When  nature 
is  sinking,  and  the  mind  is  wandering,  the  dearest 
relatives  are  sometimes  overlooked  by  the  departing 
office-bearer  of  the  church,  in  the  imagined  prosecution 
of  his  spiritual  calling.  He  is  standing  by  the  sick- 
bed, and  exhorting  the  distressed  notto  be  dismayed; 
or,  the  accents  of  prayer  ascend  from  his  tremulous 
lips,  and  we  discern,  in  his  petitions,  the  weekly 
prayer  meeting  gathered  around  him,  and  pouring, 
through  his  enfeebled  but  fervent  utterance,  their 
associated  supplications!  Or,  he  is  in  the  midst  of 
his  brethren,  lauding,  perhaps,  some  measure  for  the 
furtherance  of  religion,  and  promising  it  his  'best 
support,'  in  accents  which  leave  no  doubt  of  sincerity, 
and  no  hope  of  performance.  He  has  already  left 
his  own  dwelling.  The  spirit  of  his  higher  calling 
has  carried  him  to  Zion,  and  he  takes  his  flight  from 
the  temple  on  earth  to  the  temple  in  heaven ! 


140  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Such  a  life  may  have  had  its  trials :  but  such  a 
death  has  no  terrors.  The  worst  emotion  it  awakens 
is  not  pity,  but  envy ;  and  a  Balaam  may  well  say 
over  it — 'Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous;  and 
let  my  last  end  be  like  his.'  * 

From  the  divine  appointment  of  this  office  it  fol- 
lows,— 

5.  That  a  faithful  discharge  of  its  duties  shall  be 
abundantly  recompensed  in  a  future  state.  We  have 
no  merit,  and  cannot,  therefore,  receive  a  meritorious 
recompense;  but,  even  to  redeemed  sinners,  a  gra- 
cious recompense  is  promised,  and  accessible.  Scrip- 
ture gives  us  to  understand  that  there  shall  be  an 
intimate  connexion  between  present  faithfulness  and 
eternal  happiness.  And  this  holds  true,  not  only  in 
general,  but  in  respect  to  particular  appointments, 
and  even  individual  acts ;  for,  '  whosoever  shall  give 
to  drink,'  avers  our  Lord,  'unto  one  of  these  little 
ones,  a  cup  of  cold  water  only,  in  the  name  of  a  dis- 
ciple, verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  no  wise  lose 
his  reward. 'f  The  promise  is  here  made  to  benefi- 
cence: and  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  promises 
have  the  same  application:  'They  that  be  wise  shall 
shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament;  and  they  that 
turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever.' J  The  blissful  rewards  awaiting  official  faith- 
fulness are  especially  enlarged  upon  in  the  scriptures: 
'  Who  then  is  that  faithful  and  wise  steward,  whom 
his  lord  shall  make  ruler  over  his  household,  to  give 
them  their  portion  of  meat  in  due  season  ?  Blessed 
*  XT^m.  xxiii.  10.  t  Matt.  x.  42.  J  Dan.  xii.  3. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  141 

is  that  servant,  whom  his  lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall 
find  so  doing.  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  you,  That  he 
will  make  him  ruler  over  all  that  he  hath.'*  No 
doubt,  where  the  relation  is  happy  and  useful  to 
overseers,  it  becomes  so  likewise  to  the  church  su- 
perintended by  them;  but  the  benefit  is  greatly  en- 
hanced in  being  thus  mutual  and  reciprocal.  *  What 
is  our  hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing?  Are  not 
even  ye,  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  at  his 
coming?  For  ye  are  our  glory  and  joy.'f  '  Ye  have 
acknowledged  us  in  part,  that  we  are  your  rejoicing, 
even  as  ye  also  are  ours,  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus.'J 
The  same  apostle,  after  noticing  the  diversified  and 
extraordinary  self-denial  which  he  cheerfully  under- 
went in  fulfilling  his  ministry,  tells  us,  in  explanation, 
'  This  I  do  for  the  gospel's  sake,  that  I  might  be  par- 
taker thereof  with  yout'§     The  end  is  deserving  of  all 

*  Luke  xii.  42-44.       t  1  Thess.  ii.  19,  20.       J  2  Cor.  i.  14. 

§  1  Cor.  ix.  23.  All  the  explanations  which  I  have  seen  of  this 
verse  in  its  connexion,  appear  to  me  unsatisfactory.  1  Cor.  ix. 
13-23;  'Do  ye  not  know,  that  they  which  minister  about  holy 
things  live  of  the  things  of  the  temple?  and  they  which  wait  at  the 
altar  are  partakers  with  the  altar?  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained 
that  they  which  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel.  But 
I  have  used  none  of  these  things ;  neither  have  I  written  these 
things,  that  it  should  be  so  done  unto  me  ;  for  it  were  better  for 
me  to  die,  than  that  any  man  should  make  my  glorying  void. 
For  though  I  preach  the  gospel,  I  have  nothing  to  glory  of:  for 
necessity  is  laid  upon  me ;  yea,  woe  is  unto  me  if  I  preach  not 
the  gospel !  For  if  I  do  this  thing  willingly,  I  have  a  reward : 
but  if  against  my  will,  a  dispensation  of  the  gospel,  is  committed 
unto  me,  What  is  my  reward  then  ?  Verily,  that,  when  I  preach 
the  gospel,  I  may  make  the  gospel  of  Christ  without  charge,  that 


142  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

the  means.  Well  may  we  toil  to  promote  the  eternal 
happiness  of  others,  in  which  we  ourselves  are  largely 
to  participate.  The  labours  of  the  spring-time  will  not 
appear  to  have  been  excessive,  when  we  reap  our  har- 
vest in  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  meet  in  the  heavenly 
Canaan  with  some,  or  many,  whom  we  have  aided  in 

I  abuse  not  my  power  in  the  gospel.  For  though  I  be  free  from 
all  men,  yet  have  I  made  myself  servant  unto  all,  that  I  might  gain 
the  more.  And  unto  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew,  that  I  might 
gain  the  Jews ;  to  them  that  are  under  the  law,  as  under  the  law, 
that  I  might  gain  them  that  are  under  the  law;  to  them  that  are 
without  law,  as  without  law,  (being  not  without  law  to  God,  but 
under  the  law  to  Christ,)  that  I  might  gain  them  that  are  without 
law.  To  the  weak  became  I  as  weak,  that  I  might  gain  the 
weak  ,  I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,  that  I  might  by  all 
means  save  some.  And  this  I  do  for  the  gospel's  sake,  that  I 
might  be  partaker  thereof  with  you.'  Our  translation,  it  will  be 
observed,  represents  the  apostle  as  saying,  (v.  18,)  'What  is  my 
reward  then?  Verily,  that,  when  I  preach  the  gospel,  I  may 
make  the  gospel  of  Christ  without  charge,  that  I  abuse  not  my 
power  in  the  gospel.'  By  this  rendering,  the  apostle's  reward  Avas 
to  consist  in  preaching  without  charge,  that  is,  in  getting  nothing! 
It  is  only  by  a  supplement  that  this  most  improbable  sense  is 
brought  out  of  the  words.  The  precise  rendering  of  them  is, 
'  What  is  my  reward  then,  in  order  that  (/^a)  when  I  preach  the 
gospel,  I  may  make  the  gospel  of  Christ  without  charge, 
that  I  abuse  not  my  power  in  the  gospel?'  The  apostle 
then  shows,  in  the  succeeding  verses,  that  he  was  abundantly 
justified  by  his  conduct  in  putting  such  a  question.  He 
had  not  abused  his  power  to  obtain  money  or  homage  of  any 
sort,  but  had  accommodated  himself  to  prejudices,  as  if  he  had 
been  a  servant  or  slave,  rather  than  a  free  citizen.  Having  thus 
shown,  parenthetically,  the  reasonableness  of  the  question,  he 
answers  it,  I  think,  in  v.  23 :  For  what  reward  do  I  pass  through 
all  this  self-crucifixion  ?     '  This  I  do  for  the  gospel's  sake,  that  I 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  143 

guiding  to  that  happy  country.  Whatever,  then,  may 
be  the  trials  and  discouragements  of  the  journey,  its 
end  at  least  is  inspiriting.  We  serve  under  Him  who 
brings  many  sons  unto  glory;  and  how  shall  fears  and 
fightings  be  forgotten  when  the  whole  enterprise  shall 
have  been  accomplished — when  the  outcasts  of  Israel 

might  be  partaker  thereof  with  you.'  The  whole  passage,  begin- 
ning at  v.  13,  I  would  thus  paraphrase — 

'Do  ye  not  know,  that  they  which  minister  about  holy  things 
live  of  the  things  of  the  temple,  and  they  which  wait  at  the  altar 
arc  partakers  with  the  altar?'  Provision  is  made,  by  the  Mosaic 
economy,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  priesthood  who  conduct  its 
ceremonial.  '  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained,  that  they  which 
preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel.'  The  support  of  a 
gospel  ministry,  by  the  New  Testament  church,  is  just  as  much  a 
divine  ordinance  as  was  the  support  of  the  Aaronic  priesthood  by 
the  Old  Testament  church.  '  But  I  have  used  none  of  these 
things.'  I  have  not  availed  myself  of  my  right  to  temporal 
supplies,  in  requital  for  my  spiritual  services.  'Neither  have  I 
written  these  things  that  it  should  be  so  done  unto  me.'  I  have 
not  stated  my  claims  now  with  the  view  of  acting  upon  them  any 
more  in  time  coming  than  in  time  past.  The  enemies  of  the 
gospel  are  eager  to  wound  it  through  my  conduct,  and  if  they 
found  any  pretence  for  saying  that  I  made  a  gain  of  you,  they 
would  denounce  the  whole  scheme  of  mercy  as  a  pecuniary 
speculation.  In  these  circumstances  I  am  determined  to  forego 
:ny  rights,  and  still  to  preach  the  gospel  gratuitously  ;  '  for  it  were 
better  for  me  to  die,  than  that  any  man  should  make  my  glorying 
'. -i  'ill.'  When  I  speak  of  glorying,  it  is  not  on  account  of  preaching 
the  gospel,  by  itself  considered,  but  of  preaching  it  without  price. 
'  For  though  I  preach  the  gospel,  I  have  nothing  to  glory  of:  for 
necessity  is  laid  upon  me  ;  yea,  woe  is  unto  me,  if  I  preach  not 
the  gospel ! '  The  case  is  different  as  to  making  the  gospel  with- 
out charge ;  '  for  if  I  do  this  thing  willingly,  I  have  a  reward.'  If 
I  spontaneously  relinquish  pecuniary  remuneration,  it  must  be  in 


144  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

shall  have  been  all  assembled  —  the  dispersed  of 
Judah  all  gathered  together — when  rulers  and  ruled 
shall  embrace  each  other  in  celestial  mansions,  and 
mingle  their  hallelujahs  before  the  throne  of  God ! 

Elders  do  well  to  review  and  ponder  these  en- 
couragements, whatever  stage  they  may  have  reached 
in  their  official  career.  But  I  would  especially  urge 
them  on  the  attention  of  those  who  may  have  been 
elected  to  the  office,  and  may  not  yet  have  accepted 
the  appointment.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  evils  in 
the  church  that  so  many  decline  this  sacred  trust. 
Those  who  are  most  averse  to  take  it,  are  often  those, 

the  view  of  some  compensating  benefit;  'but  if'  I  preached 
gratuitously  '  against  my  will,'  independently  of  my  will,  then  I 
would  have  no  credit  in  sparing  you.  On  that  supposition,  I  am 
equally  bound  to  preach,  and  to  take  nothing  for  preaching,  and 
have  no  room  to  boast  my  personal  determination  in  the  matter ; 
'for  a  dispensation' — an  imperative  appointment — is  committed 
unto  me.  But  such  is  not  the  case.  Though  I  am  bound  to  preach, 
I  am  under  no  obligation  to  decline  carnal  things  from  those  to 
whom  I  sow  spiritual  things ;  therefore,  if  I  relinquish  my  dues,  I 
must  be  giving  up  one  good  in  expectation  of  another.  '  What  is  my 
reward  then  ?'  What  reward  have  I  in  prospect,  '  in  order  that, 
when  I  preach  the  gospel,  I  may  make  the  gospel  of  Christ  with- 
out charge,  that  I  abuse  not  my  power  in  the  gospel?  For 
though  I  be  free,'  etc..  instead  of  exercising  my  freedom,  I  have 
acted  as  if  I  were  every  one's  servant.  '  And  this  I  do  for  the 
gospel's  sake,  that  I  might  be  partaker  thereof  with  you.'  I  make 
all  these  sacrifices,  and  sub;nit  to  all  this  servitude,  that  I  may 
promote  the  cause  of  the  gospel  in  your  hearts  and  lives,  and  may 
consequently  rejoice  in  your  rejoicing  on  the  great  day  of  God. 

This  view  of  the  passage  I  proposed  many  years  ago,  in  an 
anonymous  communication  to  the  Theological  Magazine. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  145 

too,  who  have  most  time  to  bestow  on  its  engage- 
ments, most  means  to  second  their  benevolent  pur- 
poses, and  most  influence  to  carry  the  congregation 
along  with  them  in  good  measures.  Such  persons 
can  see  all  the  work  of  the  eldership  devolve  on  a 
few  operatives,  sufficiently  toil-worn  and  care-worn  by 
their  own  hard  service,  and  absolutely  refuse  to  help 
them  with  one  of  their  fingers.  On  such  a  state  of 
things  the  Head  of  the  church  cannot  fail  to  look  with 
high  displeasure.  It  is  every  way  ruinous.  When 
the  office  is  rejected  by  persons  deemed  respectable, 
more  generally  than  by  other  sections  of  the  commu- 
nity, the  apparent  reason  is  that  they  look  upon  it  as 
vulgar,  and  deprecate  the  holding  of  it  as  injurious 
to  their  gentility  !  Whatever  may  be  their  motives, 
the  effect  is,  that  contumely  is  cast  on  a  divine  trust, 
and  Christ  is  slighted  and  dishonoured  in  one  of  his 
institutions.  The  session  comes  in  this  way,  also,  to 
be  of  one  class;  and  every  class  has  its  own  snares  and 
prejudices.  It  would  be  very  disastrous  if  all  elders 
were  gentlemen.  But  on  the  same  grounds  that  such 
exclusiveness  would  be  reprehensible,  it  is  also  to  be 
regretted,  that  the  poorest  only  of  the  people  should 
be  their  spiritual  overseers.  What  can  be  expected 
of  these  men,  but  that  their  unaided  counsels  should 
bear  the  stamp  of  their  condition  ?  and  whether  are 
they  to  blame,  or  the  more  opulent  and  educated  chris- 
tians who  desert  them,  and  then  complain,  perhaps, 
of  their  'narrow  views'  and  'shabby  actions?' 

This  absence  of  the  more  influential   members  of 
the  congregation  from  the  session,  necessarily  weakens 


146  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

sessional  authority,  and  tempts  the  subjects  of  discip- 
line to  show  disrespect  and  insubordination.  Above 
all,  if  a  juncture  come  in  which  the  utmost  weight  of 
character  is  needed  to  compose  differences  and  main- 
tain order,  a  feeble  administration  is  unequal  to  the 
exigency.  Cases  could  be  cited  in  which  congrega- 
tions have  been  troubled  for  many  years  by  disputes 
about  sessional  acts,  and  from  the  day  that  a  powerful 
addition  was  made  to  the  session,  all  these  misunder- 
standings and  murmurings  have  given  place  to  a  pro- 
found tranquillity. 

A  due  regard  to  these  considerations  should  make 
those  who  are  chosen  to  the  eldership  slow  in  casting 
it  from  them.  Do  they  shrink  from  the  responsibility 
of  accepting  it?  They  should  remember  that  the 
responsibility  is  not  all  on  one  side.  Survey  these 
consequences  of  refusal,  and  can  you  be  willingly 
answerable  for  them  ?  Think,  too,  of  withstanding 
the  most  sacred  and  authoritative  manifestation  of 
the  will  of  Christ.  You  have  inconveniences  and 
scruples ;  but  can  you  pronounce  these  the  leadings 
of  Providence  rather  than  the  voice  of  the  church 
convened  in  Christ's  name,  and  observing,  in  your 
election,  his  own  institution  ? 

You  profess  to  have  obeyed  the  call,  follow  me, 
when  the  end  was  your  own  salvation.  Will  you 
not  obey  the  same  voice,  using  the  same  language, 
when  the  end  contemplated  is  the  benefit  of  others? 
Has  compliance  with  the  first  call  proved  so  bitter, 
that  you  have  no  faith  in  the  recommendations  of  the 
second  ?     But  it  may  be  still  objected  by  elders  elect, 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  147 

that  they  are  not  qualified  for  a  station  of  such  oner- 
ous accountabilities.  This  plea  of  unfitness  is  more 
urged  than  any  other,  or  than  all  others  together; 
and,  therefore,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark  on  it 
more  fully. 

First  of  all,  let  it  be  observed  in  reply,  that  a  high 
notion  of  personal  fitness  would  be  a  sorry  evidence  of 
possessing  it,  and  that  a  deep  sense  of  personal  insuffi- 
ciency is  one  of  the  first  requisites  to  faith  in  Christ,  and 
efficiency  in  his  service.  The  office  requires  men  to 
fill  it  whose  exclamation,  in  the  view  of  its  duties,  is, 
1  And  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?'*  Moses  had 
the  same  objections  to  be  a  lawgiver,  and  Isaiah  to 
be  a  prophet,  and  Paul  to  be  an  apostle.  But  the 
weakness  of  these  men  was  their  strength  ;  for  when 
they  were  weak  then  were  they  strong. 

Secondly,  The  plea  of  unfitness  may  be  urged  un- 
der exaggerated  impressions  of  the  difficulties  to  be 
encountered.  Here,  as  everywhere,  the  yoke  of 
Christ  is  easy,  and  his  burden  is  light.  He  gives  the 
means  of  doing  all  that  he  commands  to  be  done ; 
where  opportunity  ceases,  obligation  ceases  ;  and  is 
not  this  '  a  reasonable  service  ?  '  In  the  capacity  of 
a  private  christian,  you  are  bound  to  do  all  that  you 
can  for  Christ.  In  the  position  of  an  elder,  what 
more  can  be  demanded  of  you  ?  The  chief  difference 
is,  that  the  same  amount  of  labour,  when  allied  with 
office,  does  a  great  deal  more  good.  All  are  bound 
to  minister  comfort  to  the  afflicted :  •  Wherefore 
comfort  yourselves  together,  and  edify  one  another, 
*  2  Cor.  ii.  16. 


1  48  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP, 

even  as  also  ye  do/*  But  an  elder's  visit  has  an  effect 
quite  its  own.  The  want  of  it  is  felt;  the  enjoyment 
of  it  is  valued.  The  sound  of  his  Master's  feet  is 
behind  him,  and  he  is  recognised  as  a  messenger 
from  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Others  are  bound  to  re- 
prove sin;  but  reproof  will  be  taken  well  from 
an  elder,  when  it  would  be  resented  if  it  came 
from  a  private  member  of  the  church.  Such  things 
are  expected  from  him,  and  reckoned  becoming  in 
him;  and  how  much  all  this  facilitates  the  per- 
formance of  duty  it  is  superfluous  to  demonstrate. 
All  should  take  part  in  beneficent  exertions ;  but  few 
can  give  them  the  same  effective  countenance  as 
elders.  Their  presence  is  ever  mentioned  among 
causes  of  congratulation  and  guarantees  of  success ; 
and,  if  they  simply  look  in  upon  schools,  or  prayer 
meetings,  or  kindred  institutions,  conducted  by  others, 
their  occasional  presence  is  patronage  and  support. 
In  all  this  there  may  be  no  service  deserving  the 
name  of  toil,  certainly  no  greater  amount  of  labour 
than  is  incumbent  on  the  private  christian  ;  and  yet 
the  good  achieved  is  greatly  augmented,  if  not  many 
times  multiplied. 

Thirdly -,  The  plea  of  unfitness,  while  professedly 
urged  in  self-accusation,  may  be  really  reproachful  to 
Christ.  You  have  great  deficiencies :  be  it  so.  Can 
He  not  supply  them  ?  You  see  difficulties  in  your 
way :  granted.  But  can  He  not  give  you  to  say — 
'By  thee  I  have  run  through  a  troop;  and  by  my 
God  have  I  leaped  over  a  wallff  That  you  are  feeble 
*  1  Thess.  v.  11.  t  Psalm  xviii.  29. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  149 

does  not  decide  the  question.  Is  God  as  feeble  as 
yourself?  Is  his  grace  a  phantom  ?  Are  his  pro- 
mises illusory  %  Can  he  not  put  his  treasure  in  you, 
an  earthen  vessel  as  you  are,  and  there  keep  it  safely, 
that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and 
not  of  men  %  God  can  do  all  this.  If  he  be  trusted 
for  it,  he  will  do  all ;  and  the  conduct  which  says  that 
he  cannot,  and  will  not,  has  only  the  fair  semblance 
of  humility,  and  the  dark  reality  of  unbelief.  *  Be 
strong,  and  of  a  good  courage:  for  thou  must  go  with 
this  people  unto  the  land  which  the  Lord  hath  sworn 
unto  their  fathers  to  give  them ;  and  thou  shalt  cause 
them  to  inherit  it.  And  the  Lord,  he  it  is  that  doth 
go  before  thee ;  he  will  be  with  thee,  he  will  not  fail 
thee,  neither  forsake  thee :  fear  not,  neither  be  dis- 
mayed.' * 

*  Deut  xxxi.  7, 8. 


150  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 


CONCLUSION. 

Perhaps  more  than  enough  has  been  already  said, 
yet  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  conclude  without  a  few 
closing  paragraphs  of  appeal.  There  is  an  im- 
portant movement  at  present  on  the  part  of  elders, 
and  it  must  have  great  effects,  good  or  bad.  If 
the  result  were  a  confirmed  indifference,  even 
that  effect  would  be  vast  and  eventful  on  the  side  of 
calamity.  But  we  are  not  disposed  to  indulge  these 
gloomy  prognostications.  It  is  a  delightful  token  for 
good,  that  elders  themselves  are  the  principal  agents 
in  devising  and  propelling  measures  for  the  fuller  com- 
mendation of  their  office.  The  subject  has  been  long 
and  seriously  pondered  by  many  of  them;  and  when 
action  is  the  result  of  deliberate  and  prayerful  reflec- 
tion, we  look  the  more  confidently  for  its  prosperous 
issue.  The  cause  must  not  be  relinquished  by  them. 
In  the  exercise  of  that  faith  which  worketh  by  love,  they 
must  advance  with  a  growing  energy,  and  neither  fail 
nor  be  discouraged,  till  they  have  secured  for  this 
divine  ordinance  all  its  scriptural  elevation  and  soul- 
saving  efficiency. 

It  is  not  meant  that  teaching  elders  should  stand 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  151 

aside,  while  ruling  elders  are  aiming  at  sessional  im- 
provement. The  ministers  of  the  word  must  do  all 
that  in  them  lies  to  second  the  praiseworthy  endea- 
vours of  their  brethren  in  office.  There  has  been  a 
lamentable  remissness  in  this  respect  hitherto.  In- 
calculably much  has  been  done  to  advance  the  pro- 
ficiency of  ministers  and  students,  and  also  of  private 
christians.  Books  and  addresses,  without  number, 
have  been  written,  which  present  in  every  possible 
aspect  the  obligations  and  privileges  of  all  these  classes. 
But  our  sessions  have  been  nearly  overlooked,  and  a 
passing  notice  of  their  appointment  in  the  more  gene- 
ral defences  of  presbytery,  exhibits  most  of  the  atten- 
tion with  which  they  have  been  honoured.  Up  to  this 
hour  there  are  hundreds  of  them  who,  in  relation  to 
their  office,  know  not  what  treatises  to  consult  for  their 
own  satisfaction  and  guidance.  The  progress  in  this 
work  has  been  one  of  declension  ;  for  in  older  times 
each  presbytery  maintained  a  constant  communication 
with  the  sessions  in  its  bounds,  and  strictly  inquired 
into  their  condition  and  faithfulness.  The  like  instru- 
mentality should  be  instituted  afresh.  There  is  no  class 
in  our  churches  so  accessible  as  elders  ;  none  so  capa- 
ble of  profiting  by  wise  and  friendly  suggestions,  and 
none  whom  it  is  so  important  to  benefit,  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  others.  In  every  view,  then,  it  is  of  high 
consequence  that  presbyteries  and  synods  open  up  a 
correspondence  with  sessions,  and  strengthen  their 
hands  in  the  effort  now  making  for  the  augmentation 
of  their  usefulness.  The  presbyteries  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  in  their  parochial  visitations,  were  wont 


152  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

to  put  such  questions  as  these  to  the  minister  of  the 
parish,  regarding  his  elders  and  deacons  : — 

4 1.  Is  your  session  rightly  constitute,  and  all  the 
elders  and  deacons  duly  admitted  according  to  the 
acts  of  the  Assembly  ?  2.  Do  they  all  attend  gospel 
ordinances  and  the  diets  of  the  session  ?  3.  Are  they 
grave,  pious,  and  exemplary  in  their  lives  and  con- 
versation ?  Do  they  worship  God  in  their  families  ? 
Is  any  of  your  elders  an  ignorant  man,  a  drinker  of 
healths,  a  tippler,  a  drinker  excessively  to  drunkenness, 
a  swearer,  an  observer  of  Yule-days,  etc.  ?  Is  he  one 
that  observes  not  the  Sabbath  ?  Is  he  careful  to  keep 
his  oath  of  admission  taken  before  God  in  face  of  the 
congregation,  not  to  delate  or  censure,  but  as  educa- 
tion requires  ?  Do  any  of  them  work  on  solemn  fast 
or  thanksgiving  days?  Is  any  of  them  a  mocker  of 
piety  ?  4.  Are  they  diligent,  careful,  and  impartial  in 
the  exercise  of  their  offices  ?  Do  the  elders  visit  the 
families  within  the  quarter  and  bounds  assigned  to 
each  of  them  ?  Are  they  careful  to  have  the  worship 
of  God  set  up  in  the  families  of  their  bounds?  Are 
they  careful  in  calling  for  testimonials  from  persons 
who  come  to  reside  in  the  parish  ?  Do  the  elders 
take  all  discipline  upon  themselves  without  the  minis- 
ter? Or  do  they  labour  to  carry  things  factiously,  or 
by  plurality  of  voices,  contrary  to  God's  word,  and 
the  laudable  acts  of  the  presbytery,  provincial  or  Ge- 
neral Assemblies?  5.  Have  the  elders  subscribed  the 
Confession  of  Faith?  And  are  they  well  affected  to 
the  government,  worship,  and  discipline  of  this  church? 
6.  Have  the  elders  and  deacons  their  distinct  bounds 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  153 

assigned  them  for  their  particular  inspection?  7.  Does 
your  session  always  appoint  a  ruling  elder  to  attend 
presbyteries  and  synods  ?  8.  Are  the  deacons  faith- 
ful in  their  office,  in  collecting  and  distributing  all  the 
kirk-goods,  and  in  having  a  care  of  the  sick  poor  ! 
After  all  these  queries  are  over,  the  minister  and 
elders  are  to  be  severally  encouraged  and  admonished 
as  the  presbytery  sees  need.'  *  The  foregoing  list  of 
queries  contains  some  which  would  now  be  reckoned 
of  doubtful  propriety,  and  omits  others  of  great  and 
obvious  consequence  to  be  proposed.  But  such  as  it 
is,  we  may  recognise  in  it  a  plan  of  operation  which 
we  would  do  well  to  re-adopt  in  its  essential  provisions 
while  we  carefully  denude  it  of  collateral  abuses. 
This  return  to  former  usage  is  in  fact  commenced. 
Different  presbyteries  have  set  on  foot  a  profitable 
correspondence  with  their  respective  sessions ;  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  these  initiatory  steps  will  termi- 
nate in  a  matured  and  well-digested  scheme  for  di- 
recting and  stimulating  the  devotedness  of  the  elder- 
ship from  one  extremity  of  the  land  to  the  other. 

It  is  an  excellent  arrangement  which  has  been 
lately  introduced  of  inviting  all  the  elders  in  a  pres- 
bytery to  some  of  its  meetings,  that  they  may  join  in 
its  devotional  exercises,  hear  a  word  of  exhortation  on 
their  proper  duties,  and  confer  together  on  matters  of 
practical  and  general  interest. 

The  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who  addressed  the 
Ephesian  elders  convened  by  him  at  Meletus,  would 

*  Collections  by  Steuart  of  Pardovan,  Book  i.  Tit.  xiii.  pp.  51, 
52. 


154  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Lave  looked  with  profound  interest  on  these  kindred 
assemblies,  and  would  have  been  stimulated  by  their 
importance  to  bring  into  requisition  his  utmost  power 
and  utmost  influence  to  promote  their  objects.  That 
apostle  is  gone,  but  his  Lord  reigns,  and  though 
ascended  up  on  high,  he  speaks  the  more  authorita- 
tively as  speaking  from  heaven.  He  addresses  us  in 
his  word;  and  we  shall  do  well  to  inquire,  through 
its  pages,  Lord,  what  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do  ? 
He  speaks  to  us  in  his  providence  ;  and  we  should  not 
be  unobservant  of  the  signs  of  the  times.  The  duties 
of  the  eldership  are,  indeed,  at  all  times  urgent.  They 
have  an  essential  and  abiding  importance  which  can 
be  sparingly  affected  by  temporary  considerations.  I 
am  aware,  too,  that  so  far  as  passing  events  may  be 
acknowledged  to  create  special  claims,  every  epoch  has 
its  own  peculiar  exigencies  and  resultant  obligations. 
Without,  however,  exaggerating  the  distinctive  con- 
sequence of  our  own  day,  we  may  find  in  it  ample 
stimulus  for  a  diligent  discipleship.  Our  large  towns 
are  becoming  every  year  larger,  and  the  augmenting 
vice  and  misery  of  their  poorer  population  cause  se- 
rious disquietude  to  a  considerate  philanthropist.  A 
spirit  of  discontent  and  jealousy  pervades  no  small 
section  even  of  the  better-behaved  and  more  comfort- 
ably situated  labourers — producing  a  disrelish  for  all 
existing  institutions,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  and  in- 
disposing them  for  the  salutary  control  of  religion 
itself.  Not  a  few  of  our  congregations  consist  mostly 
of  handloom  weavers,  whose  reduced  and  disabled 
condition  it  is  most  painful  to  contemplate.     Mean- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  155 

while,  error  is  active.  Every  species  of  delusion,  ad- 
dressing itself  to  popular  prejudice,  is  indefatigably 
propagated.  Popery  extends  itself  on  the  continent, 
and  there  glories  in  the  recovery  of  its  lost  conquests. 
The  same  antichristian  system  gains  the  ascendancy 
in  England,  and  advances  under  colours  more  dan- 
gerous from  being  more  insidious. 

There  are  compensating  and  cheering  considera- 
tions. We  see  them  in  the  ecclesiastical  state  of 
Scotland.  Different  views  are  entertained  of  the  dis- 
ruption which  has  lately  taken  place  in  the  National 
Church ;  but  on  all  hands  it  will  be  admitted  to  have 
added  another,  and  one  of  the  most  influential,  to  our 
Evangelical  and  Presbyterian  denominations,  and  to 
have  quickened  the  zeal  of  the  Establishment  itself. 
If  that  section  of  the  church  to  which  the  writer  be- 
longs do  its  part  in  the  drama  of  providence,  these 
fellow-labourers  will  be  fellow-helpers.  Live  coals, 
when  brought  in  contact,  will  burn  the  brighter  for 
burning  together.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  unfavour- 
able contrast  will  be  as  injurious  as  honourable  com- 
petition would  be  beneficial;  and  if  we  be  not  stimu- 
lated, we  shall  soon  be  superseded  by  the  energetic 
action  of  other  denominations.  At  the  same  time 
there  are  interests  at  stake,  and  events  in  prospect, 
which  sink  all  merely  denominational  considerations. 
1  Who,'  says  a  distinguished  minister  and  professor, 
lately  deceased — '  Who  can  contemplate  the  character 
and  aspect  of  the  present  times,  or  the  present  eoncU-. 
tion  and  prospects  of  the  church  and  of  religion  in  our 
country,  and  not  discern  much  that  Is  fitted  to  arouse. 


156  THE  RULING  ELDEKSHIP. 

both  ministers  and  private  christians  from  that  state  of 
comparative  lethargy  in  which  they  have  long  indulged, 
and  which  is  the  natural  consequence  of  a  lengthened 
period  of  external  peace?  "We  can  discern  the  face 
of  the  sky  and  of  the  earth;  how  is  it  that  we  do  not 
discern  the  signs  of  the  times?"  "Coming  events  are 
casting  their  shadows  before."  The  present  is  preg- 
nant with  the  buds  and  blossoms  of  the  future.  It 
might  almost  seem  that  all  nature  is  desiring  with  un- 
wonted  ardour,  and  expecting  with  unwonted  confi- 
dence, some  new  and  unexampled  "  manifestation  of 
the  sons  of  God."  If  "all  creatures  are  not  sighing  to 
be  renewed,  and  calling  on  the  Prince  of  Peace  to  come 
forth  from  his  royal  chambers,"  all  things  both  in  the 
political  and  the  religious  hemisphere  are  in  a  state 
of  feverish  excitement,  of  unusual  commotion,  giving 
tokens  most  unequivocal,  of  vast,  and  it  may  be  hoped, 
of  beneficial  changes.  The  Supreme  Ruler  has  re- 
cently "  shaken  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry 
land,  and  all  nations;"  now  he  is  "shaking  the  hea- 
vens," and  while  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  perpetuation  of  ignorance,  and  misrule,  and 
injustice,  are  "failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking 
after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth," 
the  friends  of  freedom  are  confidently  anticipating  its 
triumph  ;  and  many  at  least  of  the  friends  of  religion 
are  expecting  not  less  confidently  that  "the  daughter 
of  Zion  will  soon  arise  and  shake  herself  from  the  dust, 
loose  herself  from  the  bands  of  her  captivity,  and  put 
on  her  beautiful  garments,"  emerge  from  her  present 
state  of  comparative  olscurity,  and  burst  on  the  gaze 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  157 

of  the  astonished  nations,  "fair  as  the  moon,  resplen- 
dent as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  ban- 
ners." Still  farther,  an  unwonted  spirit  of  prayer  for 
the  effusion  of  divine  influence  is  appearing  in  numer- 
ous districts  of  our  country,  and  already  "  drops  have 
fallen  from  heaven,"  and  produced  partial  and  local 
revivals.  And  may  not  these  be  regarded  as  precur- 
sors of  "  a  plenteous  rain  to  refresh  the  languishing 
heritage  of  the  Lord" — as  auspicious  presages,  indi- 
cating that  soon  "the  Spirit  will  be  poured  upon  us 
from  on  high,  and  the  wilderness  be  a  fruitful  field, 
and  the  fruitful  field  be  counted  for  a  forest."  '* 

These  are  bright  anticipations,  and  ultimately 
sure,  but  they  are  not  likely  to  be  immediately 
realised.  According  to  present  appearances,  we  must 
pass  through  much  gloom  before  we  enter  millennial 
glory,  and  fight  a  hard  battle  before  we  be  decked 
with  the  trophies,  and  enriched  with  the  spoils  of 
final  victory.  Are  we  in  a  befitting  condition,  then, 
to  meet  the  juncture?  Have  we  put  on  the  whole 
armour  of  God,  that  we  may  be  able  to  stand  in  the 
evil  day ;  and  having  done  all,  to  stand  ?  I  fear  not. 
That  there  is  much  true  piety  in  our  churches  is 
readily  and  joyously  conceded.  We  see  it  in  the  holy 
life,  we  see  it  in  the  peaceful  death,  of  many  of  their 
members.  There  is  much  true  piety  in  our  churches; 
but  there  is  also  much  of  undoubted  and  inexcusable 
apathy.  Too  many  follow  a  course  which  compels  us 
to  stand  in  doubt  of  them;  and  the  more  decidedly 
good  have,  in  many  instances,  a  very  inadequate  im- 
*  Address  to  Elders,  by  Robert  Bsdmer,  D.D.,  p.  15. 


158  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

pression  of  their  true  responsibility.  I  do  not  reiterate 
the  complaint,  that  the  former  days  were  better  than 
these.  A  fair  comparison  of  the  present  with  the 
past  would  present,  in  some  views,  improvement,  and 
in  others,  deterioration.  But,  without  estimating  the 
collective  character  of  the  change,  it  is  too  certain 
that  antecedent  and  existing  usage,  both  exhibit  a 
lamentable  discrepancy  with  the  standard  of  revela- 
tion. Look  at  the  measure  of  visible  saintslr'p  with 
which  multitudes,  called  christian,  content  them- 
selves! Mark  all  they  do  bearing  even  the  semblance 
of  religious  profession !  Note  how  far  the  day  is  oc- 
cupied otherwise  than  it  would  be,  if  there  were  no  God, 
no  judgment,  no  eternity  at  all!  A  short  prayer  in  the 
morning,  and  another  at  night;  an  occasional  remark 
on  death  in  the  sight  of  its  desolations;  a  stated  ap- 
pearance in  the  church  on  the  Lord's- day,  with  now 
and  then  a  pittance  to  a  religious  object, — these  ele- 
ments nearly  exhaust  the  amount  of  discernible  godli- 
ness. Was  it  for  this,  then,  that  Christ  died?  and  in 
such  slight  modifications  of  constant  and  devoted  secu- 
lai  ity,  can  he  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be 
satisfied?  Are  these  professors  of  religion  travellers 
to  Zion ;  and  is  this  their  preparation  for  its  glorious 
services?  Is  it  thus  that  Christ  is  honoured  in  his 
people,  and  his  religion  vindicated  in  its  efficiency  ? 
Have  we,  in  such  agents  and  such  actions,  the  ap- 
pointed and  congenial  instrumentality  for  the  world's 
conversion?  The  questions  answer  themselves,  and 
the  answer  covers  us  with  confusion.  '  O  Lord,  the 
great  and  dreadful  God,  keeping  the  covenant  and 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  159 

mercy  to  them  that  love  him,  and  to  them  that  keep 
his  commandments ;  we  have  sinned  and  have  com- 
mitted iniquity,  and  have  done  wickedly,  and  have 
rebelled,  even  by  departing  from  thy  precepts,  and 
from  thy  judgments;  O  Lord,  righteousness  belongeth 
unto  thee,  but  unto  us  confusion  of  faces,  as  at  this 
day;  0  our  God,  incline  thine  ear,  and  hear;  open 
thine  eyes  and  behold  our  desolations,  and  the  city 
which  is  called  by  thy  name:  for  we  do  not  present 
our  supplications  before  thee  for  our  righteousness, 
but  for  thy  great  mercies.'*  If  we  are  sincere  in 
presenting  such  confessions  and  supplications,  they 
will  be  accompanied  with  active  endeavours,  in 
humble  reliance  on  God's  blessing,  to  escape  from 
acknowledged  sins,  and  achieve  a  true  and  thorough 
reformation.  Personal  piety  will  be  advanced  ;  and, 
with  it,  relative  fidelity  and  usefulness.  Christians 
will  '  not  look  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  every 
man  also  on  the  things  ofothers.'f  The  office-bearers 
of  the  church  especially,  knowing  that  office  has  been 
assigned  them  expressly  for  the  benefit  of  others,  will 
engage  all  its  powers  in  serving  their  generation  by 
the  will  of  God.  They  will  seek  first  to  operate  on 
the  church,  for  that  is  their  immediate  charge ;  and 
they  will  not  rest  till  '  Lebanon  be  turned  into  a 
fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field  shall  be  esteemed 
as  a  forest;  till  the  deaf  shall  hear  the  words  of 
the  book,  and  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  see  out 
of  obscurity,  and  out  of  darkness ;  till  the  meek 
shall  increase  their  joy  in  the  Lord,  and  the  poor 
*  Dan.  ix.  4,  etc.  f  Phil.  "•  4. 


160  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

among    men    shall    rejoice    in    the    Holy    One    of 
Israel.'* 

Our  Presbyterian  churches  possess  great  resources. 
That  the  Established  Church  has  great  pecuniary  ca- 
pabilities will  not  be  disputed,  as  it  retains,  next  to 
the  Episcopal  Church,  the  wealthier  portion  of  the 
community.  The  exertions  of  the  Free  Church  have 
made  it  impossible  to  question  its  plentitude  of  means. 
Indeed,  the  history  of  its  beneficence  is  highly  instruc- 
tive. The  National  Church  was  supposed  to  be  doing 
great  things  before  the  late  disruption;  and  yet  the 
Free  Church  has  not  only  replaced  national  endow- 
ments by  spontaneous  contributions  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  its  own  ordinances,  but  has  contributed  far 
more  in  a  state  of  separation,  for  missionary  objects, 
than  the  Establishment  supposed  itself  equal  for  while 
it  continued  in  its  integrity. 

But  even  the  minor  bodies  of  Presbyterians  could 
do  much  if  they  were  disposed.  The  Reformed 
Presbyterians,  or  Covenanters,  form  one  of  the 
smaller  sections  of  them ;  and,  of  late  years,  they 
have  conducted  missionary  operations  on  a  liberal 
scale.  The  United  Presbyterian  Church  is  in  pro- 
portion much  stronger.  To  it  many  talents  have  been 
committed,  for  which  it  is  eminently  responsible.  We 
may  not  think  it  to  be  affluent,  if  we  compare  it  with 
wealthier  denominations,  or  if  we  view  the  classes 
whence  its  members  are  derived  relatively  to  other 
and  richer  grades  of  the  community.  But  the  pecuniary 
means  of  this  religious  connexion  will  appear  great  if 
*  Is.  xxix.  17,  etc. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  161 

we  compare  them  with  those  of  the  primitive  church, 
in  regard  to  which  an  apostle  said,  '  Hearken,  my  be- 
loved brethren,  hath  not  God  chosen  the  poor  of  this 
world  rich  in  faith,  and  heirs  of  the  kingdom  which 
he  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him?'*  Yet  we 
do  not  find  that  the  church,  as  then  subsisting,  was 
prevented  from  undertaking  or  prosecuting  any  good 
work,  owing  merely  to  pecuniary  straits.  Estimate, 
also,  what  our  churches  might  do  for  religion  by  the 
amount  which  their  members  expend  on  personal  or 
family  comforts,  and  we  shall  discover  no  want  but  of 
mind  and  will. 

When  I  speak,  however,  of  resources,  I  would  not 
remark  on  money  alone,  or  chiefly.  Here  are  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  professing  godliness,  who  have 
placed  themselves  under  our  inspection,  and  who  look 
that  we  declare  to  them  the  whole  counsel  of  God. 
"What  intellectual — what  moral  stores  are  here,  all 
avowedly  placed  at  the  foot  of  the  cross !  If  the  prin- 
ciple of  dedication  to  Christ  were  fully  carried  out — 
if  our  people  were  not  only  missionary  congregations, 
but  congregations  of  missionaries,  every  one  striving 
to  be  useful  in  his  own  sphere  and  own  manner,  then 
what  good  might  not  be  accomplished?  These  re- 
sources  it  is  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  elders  to 
bring  into  application.  If  eleemosynary  funds  were 
given  them  in  charge,  they  would  think  it  dreadful 
to  keep  back  one  farthing  of  them  from  its  charitable 
destination.  But  if  the  beneficence  of  a  congrega- 
tion be  intercepted  by  the  apathy  of  its  overseers — 
*  James  ii.  5. 


162  THE  RULING  ELDERSIIIP. 

by  the  supineness  of  those  functionaries  who  were  ap- 
pointed to  prompt  and  regulate  that  beneficence,^ 
is  there  not  a  breach  of  trust,  outwardly  different,  per- 
haps, but  essentially  similar  in  its  character?  Elders 
are  bound  to  promote  the  well-doing  of  a  church.  In 
all  the  degree,  then,  that  they  might  accomplish  this 
end,  and  do  not,  are  they  not  responsible  for  the  defi- 
ciency? It  is  not  said  that  a  church  will  do  all  that  is 
recommended  by  the  members  of  its  session  ;  but  it  is 
meant  and  maintained,  that  the  means  of  usefulness 
within  a  congregation  are,  to  a  great  extent,  at  the 
disposal  of  those  who  are  over  it  in  the  Lord ;  so  that 
a  congregation  cannot  be  inactive  and  its  eldership  be 
innocent.  Let  elders,  then,  not  think  their  work  done 
till  they  have  set  others — till  they  have  set  all  others 
a-working.  Let  them  look  on  the  rich  in  the  congre- 
gation as  the  custodiers  of  its  funds — on  the  children 
and  youth  in  a  congregation  as  arrows  for  the  hand 
of  a  mighty  man,  and  rejoice  to  have  a  quiver  full  of 
them — on  the  mature  and  strong  in  the  congregation 
as  an  available  agency  for  arduous  enterprise,  where 
energy  and  discretion  are  both  essential  to  success — 
on  every  gift  and  grace  of  every  church  member  as  a 
vessel  both  fitted  and  intended  for  the  Master's  use ! 

That  a  new  and  nobler  reformation  is  required  be- 
fore millennial  glory  be  attained  is  painfully  obvious. 
Why,  then,  should  it  be  deferred  ?  Let  us  set  our 
hearts  on  it,  and  plead  with  God  to  have  it  now,  and 
look  and  live,  and  labour  for  its  coming.  The  power 
must  be  from  on  high ;  for  the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts  shall  perform  this.     But  the   Spirit  works  by 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  163 

means ;  and  by  what  means  more  suitable  than  by 
the  constituted  authorities  in  his  church?  The  con- 
summation, holy  brethren,  is,  under  God,  in  your 
hands :  believe  it :  and  all  things  are  possible  to  him 
that  believeth. 

The  father  of  an  afflicted  son,  who  was  a  lunatic, 
and  sore  vexed  with  an  unclean  spirit,  brought 
him  to  the  disciples,  and  they  could  not  cure  him. 
Afterwards  the  disciples  came  to  Jesus  apart,  and 
said,  'Why  could  not  we  cast  him  out?  And 
Jesus  said  unto  them,  Because  of  your  unbelief;  for 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Remove 
hence  to  yonder  place,  and  it  shall  remove ;  and  no- 
thing shall  be  impossible  to  you/*  Let  these  and 
similar  assurances  embolden  you  to  act  with  a  zeal 
and  fortitude  becoming  the  work  which  you  perform, 
the  God  whom  you  serve,  and  the  inheritance  which 
you  anticipate.  '  Watch  ye,  stand  fast  in  the  faith, 
quit  you  like  men,  be  strorg.'-j- 

Have  done  with  those  apologies  which  incredulity 
suggests.  The  old  may  not  say,  *  I  am  excused  by 
age  from  novelty  of  movement,  and  have  no  elasticity 
of  mind  or  body  for  these  modern  ameliorations.'  A 
spring-time  will  be  the  more  marked  that  the  veteran 
oak  puts  forth  its  leaves,  and  renews  its  youth  in  the 
exuberance  of  its  foliage.  The  work  will  b6  the  more 
manifestly  of  God,  when  grace  stimulates  the  fire 
where  nature  would  let  it  languish,  and  guides  to 
new  fields  of  christian  achievement  where  habit  and 
*  Matt.  xvii.  20.  f  1  Cor.  xvi.  13. 


164  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

association  would  rather  commend  a  beaten  track. 
What  a  comfort  were  it  to  these  aged  servants  of 
Christ,  to  see  this  revival  of  his  cause  both  begun  and 
prospering  in  their  hands — to  see  the  sun  rising  on 
Zion  when  their  own  sun  is  going  down — to  see  not 
only  their  children's  children,  but  peace  upon  Israel ! 
The  youthful  among  our  elders  may  not  say,  'It  were 
presumptuous  in  us  to  stir  in  these  matters.'  We 
vindicate  the  appointment  of  such  to  the  office,  on  the 
principle  that  the  church  needs  not  only  the  wisdom 
which  years  teach,  but  the  valour  and  enterprise 
which  youth  inspires.  That  the  argument  is  sound, 
it  lies  with  them  to  demonstrate — to  prove,  not  by 
words,  but  by  deeds,  by  infusing  a  freshness  of  fer- 
vency into  all  our  operations.  The  apostles,  when 
chosen  to  the  apostleship,  were  almost  all  young  men. 
Consider  what  they  did,  and  be  followers  of  Christ, 
as  ye  have  them  for  examples ! 

There  is  not  a  little  to  discourage  us  in  present 
prospects.  The  decline  of  Protestantism,  and  return 
to  Papal  error,  in  England,  is  particularly  appalling. 
But  show  us  that  Presbytery  reforms  itself,  while 
Episcopacy  matures  and  multiplies  its  corruptions, 
and  we  shall  not  fear  the  aggressions  either  of  prela- 
tical  or  papistical  intolerance.  Give  us  an  eldership 
succeeding  to  the  spirit  and  to  the  labours,  as  they  do 
to  the  plainness  of  the  apostles,  and  we  cede  all  that 
remains  of  apostolic  succession  to  the  eulogists  of  its 
virtue. 

What,  then,  is  to  be  done?  I  have  answered  the 
question  already;  and  I  would  have  all  whom  I  ad- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  165 

dress  to  answer  it  now  for  themselves.  Let  each  take 
counsel  in  his  own  soul,  and  earnestly  and  prayerfully 
deliberate  with  himself  what  he  might  do  which  he  is 
leaving  undone  for  the  bringing  a^ain  of  Zion.  Let 
elders  take  up  the  subject  in  session  assembled.  Let 
session  communicate  with  session,  and  those  in  one 
presbytery  with  those  in  another,  till  all  our  eldership 
be  as  one  man  in  elevating  christian  practice  to  scrip- 
tural principle.  Begin  such  measures  and  suspend 
them  not  till  something  good,  till  something  great 
emerge  from  this  movement,  till  God  overrule  it  for 
establishing  Jerusalem,  and  making  her  '  a  praise  in 
the  earth.'* 

•Is.lxii.7. 


REMARKS 


ON  TUE  LIABILITY  OP 


ELDERS   AND    OTHER  ECCLESIASTICAL 
OFFICE-BEARERS 

TO 

ACTIONS  FOR  DAMAGES  TOR  THEIR  OFFICIAL  ACTS. 


"Actions  of  slander  are  of  two  kinds,— either  the  defender  has, 
"  or  he  has  not  a  right  to  speak  of  the  pursuer.  If  he  has  not,  he 
**  is  liable  in  damages,  if  the  accusation  is  false.  If  he  has  the 
•*  right,  then  he  is  protected,  unless  he  maliciously  makes  the  ac- 
44  cusation.  In  the  first  case,  it  is  not  necessary  to  state  malice,  as 
*  it  is  sufficient  if  falsehood  and  injury  is  proved ;  but  in  the  second 
u  case,  malice  must  be  stated  and  proved,  as  it  is  the  ground  of 
"the  action." — Lord  Chief' Commissioner  Adam. 


In  the  exercise  of  their  official  duties,  elders  are 
called  upon  to  inquire  into,  and  pronounce  judgment 
on  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  members  of  the 
church.  If  a  member  be  charged,  either  by  com- 
mon report  or  otherwise,  with  immorality,  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  the  elder,  either  with  or  without 
sessional  authority,  to  investigate  into  the  truth  of  the 
matter,  and  with  this  view  to  apply  to  parties  sup- 
posed capable  of  affording  information,  and  when  he 
has  done  so,  to  report  to  his  brethren  in  session  the 
result  of  his  inquiries.  Sometimes,  too,  an  elder  may 
be  called  on  to  act  the  part  of  a  prosecutor,  either 
before  the  session  or  presbytery,  and  in  that  character 


1G8  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

to  make  a  formal  charge  against  an  individual,  and 
bring  forward  evidence  in  support  of  it.  As  a  ses- 
sion, also,  elders  are  called  on  to  deal  with  offenders, 
or  persons  accused  of  immoralities — to  state  their 
opinions  in  regard  to  the  guilt  of  such  persons  ;  and, 
if  satisfied  of  the  proof  before  them,  to  pass  and  re- 
cord a  sentence  of  adequate  censure,  rebuking  the 
party,  suspending  him  from  church  privileges,  or,  it 
may  be,  expelling  him  from  the  communion  of  the 
body.  Now,  the  law  does  not,  in  the  case  of  general 
society,  permit  such  interference  on  the  part  of  one 
man  with  the  character  and  conduct  of  another,  as 
all  this  plainly  implies;  and  were  any  man  to  attempt 
it  with  regard  to  his  neighbour,  he  would  subject 
himself  in  damages,  if  he  could  not  plead  such  a  pri- 
vilege to  do  so  as  the  courts  of  law  will  sanction  ; — 
and  seeing  that  the  duty  of  elders,  according  to  the 
Presbyterian  constitution,  requires  such  a  procedure, 
it  becomes  an  important  question,  whether,  in  dissent- 
ing communities  especially,  elders  or  other  ecclesias- 
tical office-bearers  have  the  right  referred  to  in  the 
quotation  prefixed  to  this  paper,  and  how  far  they 
may  deal  with  the  characters  of  those  under  their 
inspection,  without  subjecting  themselves  to  actions 
for  slander  and  defamation  ;  for,  if  the  law  makes  no 
exception  in  their  case,  it  is  obvious  that  their  duties 
cannot  be  safely  discharged. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  however,  that  the 
law  of  the  land  does  make  an  exception  in  their  fa- 
vour— that  it  will  protect  sessions  and  other  church 
courts  collectively,  and  the  members  of  them  indi- 
vidually, so  long  as  they  act  according  to  and  keep 
within  the  rules  and  usages  of  the  denomination  to 
which  they  belong.  And  I  found  this  assertion  ori 
these  three  maxims :  1st,  Internal  government  is  es- 
sential to  the  existence  of  every  established  or  tole- 
rated religious  society ;   2d,  The  connection  which 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  169 

any  person,  as  a  member,  has  with  such  a  society, 
and  the  authority  which  the  office-bearers  of  it  have 
over  him,  arise  from  his  own  voluntary  act  in  seeking 
admission  to  its  privileges,  and  in  assenting  to  its 
principles  and  rules ;  3d,  The  office-bearers  are 
entitled  to  exercise  that  control  over  the  members 
which  the  known  constitution  and  usage  of  the  so- 
ciety, under  which  the  members  have  voluntarily 
placed  themselves,  prescribe  and  warrant.  Acting 
according  to  these,  therefore,  and  keeping  within  the 
hounds  which  they  sanction,  elders  have  nothing  to 
fear. 

I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  an  action  of  damages 
is  incompetent  against  elders  or  other  ecclesiastical 
office-bearers,  for  acts  done  by  them  injurious  to  the 
reputation  of  those  with  whom  they  deal ;  or  that 
in  all  cases  where  an  action  of  this  kind  is  brought, 
they  are  entitled  at  once  to  have  it  dismissed,  as 
one  which  a  civil  judge  cannot  look  at  or  enter- 
tain. I  only  mean  that,  when  prosecuted  for  alleged 
injury  sustained  through  their  official  actings,  they 
are  entitled  to  plead  privilege — (that  is,  that  there 
existed  a  legitimate  occasion  or  call  for  them  to  act 
as  they  did ;)  and  that  no  action  will  lie  against 
them  for  subjecting  them  in  damages,  unless  malicious 
motive  be  averred  and  can  be  proved. 

In  many  cases  the  statement  of  the  pursuer  will 
give  rise  to  this  plea,  and  show  its  application,  to  the 
effect  of  procuring  the  immediate  dismissal  of  the 
action.  If  a  party,  for  instance,  were  to  bring  an 
action,  averring  that  he,  being  a  member  of  a  parti  • 
cular  congregation,  had  been  called  before  the  session 
of  it,  and  charged  with  some  immorality,  and  that 
after  some  inquiries  made,  but  without  any  legal 
evidence,  A  B  the  minister,  and  C,  D,  E,  etc., 
the  elders,  had  falsely  and  calumniously  pronounced 
and  recorded  a  sentence  against  him  as  guilty  of  that 


170  TUE  RULING  ELDKRSHIP. 

immorality,  and  on  the  ground  of  his  alleged  guilt 
had  deprived  him  of  his  rights  and  privileges  as  a 
member  of  the  congregation,  and  thereby  injured  his 
reputation  and  good  name, — such  a  statement,  on  the 
very  face  of  it,  would  give  rise  to  the  plea  of  privi- 
lege :  it  would  show  that  the  acts  complained  of  were 
done  by  the  parties  against  whom  it  is  directed  in 
their  official  character,  as  the  ecclesiastical  office- 
bearers of  the  voluntary  society  to  which  the  pursuer 
had  attached  himself;  and  the  action  wrould  in  con- 
sequence be  dismissed  as  irrelevant. 

It  may  be,  however,  that  the  summons  would  be  so 
laid  as  not  to  bring  out  the  application  of  the  plea  of 
privilege ;  that  the  facts  might  be  so  disguised  as  to 
leave  it  in  doubt,  till  proof  should  be  led,  whether  the 
conduct  complained  of  was  within  the  line  of  official 
duty  or  no.  It  might  be  alleged  that  the  party  was 
not  subject  to  the  ecclesiastical  control  of  the  de- 
fenders, or  that  the  rules  and  usages  of  the  society 
did  not  warrant  them  to  take  cognizance  of  his  con- 
duct; or  the  facts  might  be  represented  so  as,  if  true, 
to  exclude  the  plea  of  privilege.  And  in  such  cases, 
especially  where  the  subsequent  pleadings  or  record 
do  not  elicit  an  admission  of  the  true  stale  of  matters, 
the  court  may  be  necessitated  to  allow  the  case  to  go 
to  trial  or  proof,  in  order  that  the  actual  facts  may 
be  established.  If,  however,  on  evidence  being  led, 
the  relation  which  existed  between  the  parties,  and 
the  right  of  the  defenders,  according  to  the  usage  of 
the  religious  body,  to  take  the  pursuer's  conduct  under 
their  review  and  pronounce  upon  it,  are  proved,  the 
defenders  will  be  entitled  to  a  verdict  in  their  favour, 
as  not  liable  in  damages ;  and  no  alleged  irregularity 
of  the  procedure,  or  apparent  rashness  in  deciding, 
will  avail  the  pursuers. 

In  questions  of  this  nature  the  law,  I  apprehend, 
makes  no  difference  between  the  protection  afforded 


THE  KLLING  ELDEKSHIP.  171 

» 

to  members  of  the  Established  Church  courts  and  to 
those  (  f  dissenting  communities,  but  what  may  arise 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  rules  and  procedure  of 
the  one  are  matters  regulated  in  some  measure  by 
statutory  law,  while  those  of  the  other  are  the  subject 
of  private  arrangement  and  ccn-titution  or  usage. 
The  Judges  know  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  former, 
while  they  cannot  know,  judicially  at  least,  those  of 
the  other  until  they  are  proved.  But,  except  where 
this  specialty  interferes,  the  same  rules  which  regulate 
the  rights  of  the  one  set  of  office-bearers  regulate 
those  of  the  other  also.  The  law  of  toleration  im- 
plies a  power  of  internal  government  on  the  part  of 
the  tolerated  communities,  without  which  they  could 
not  exist ;  and  the  rules  which  they  adopt  must  be 
held  to  be  known  to  all  who  connect  themselves 
with  them.  In  both  Established  and  Dissenting 
churches  the  right,  on  the  part  of  the  office-bearers, 
to  judge  and  deal  with  character  and  conduct, 
which  is  the  foundation  of  the  privilege  to  which  we 
have  referred,  arises  from  the  voluntary  act  of  the 
party.  He  is  not  compelled,  by  birth  or  residence, 
to  subject  himself,  or  his  character  and  conduct,  to 
the  authority  of  the  kirk-session  of  the  parish,  or 
ether  courts  of  the  Established  Church,  any  more 
than  he  is  to  subject  himself  to  the  authority  of  the 
session  or  presbytery  of  a  dissenting  community.  It 
is  choice,  his  free,  voluntary  act,  which  alone  can  give 
to  either  a  right  over  him  ;  and  he  has  the  power  to 
disown  the  authority  and  put  an  end  to  the  ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction  at  his  pleasure  ;  but  so  long  as  that 
connection,  thus  established,  lasts,  he  has  no  right  to 
complain  to  the  civil  courts  for  redress  of  any  supposed 
wrongs  he  has  sustained  at  the  hands  of  his  ecclesias- 
tical superiors. 

The  privilege,  however,  is  and  must  be  limited  to 
acts  properly  in  the  discharge  of  official  duty.     Elders 


172  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

« 

have  no  right  to  claim  privilege  for  anything  they  do 
beyond  this.  So  long,  therefore,  as  they  are  acting 
officially,  and  within  the  line  of  duty,  they  ape  safe, 
but  beyond  that  line  they  are  to  be  treated  as  men 
ultroneously  meddling  with  the  character  and  conduct 
of  their  neighbours.  Accordingly,  as  it  would  be 
unbecoming  in  them  to  make  what  passes  in  the 
session-meeting,  or  what  they  do  officially,  the  subject 
of  conversation  and  tattle  out  of  doors,  so  neither  is  it 
tolerated.  If  they  make  the  failings  or  the  delinquencies 
of  those  over  whom  they  are  set  as  overseers  in  the 
Lord  the  subject  of  discussion  or  remark  to  others, 
they  are  at  once  acting  a  part  unworthy  of  their  office, 
and  one  which  exposes  them  to  the  law  of  the  land ; 
and  their  conduct,  instead  of  being  protected,  will  be 
looked  on  as  aggravating  the  grounds  of  complaint 
against  them,  from  the  greater  injury  it  is  calculated 
to  inflict  arising  from  their  standing  in  society. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  I  would  remark,  that  in  all 
cases  where  privilege,  or  the  right  to  speak  or  act  in 
reference  to  character,  is  pleaded,  it  must  be  made 
evident  that  the  right  existed  in  the  defenders  ;  and  it 
may  be  a  question  how  far  the  relation  in  which  the 
parties  stood  called  for  or  entitled  them  to  act  as  they 
did.  The  pursuer  may  assert  it  did  not,  the  de- 
fenders that  it  did.  The  court,  before  whom  the  care 
comes,  is  not  to  be  supposed  cognizant  of  the  usages 
of  all  the  religious  bodies  in  the  country.  In  Presby- 
terian bodies  it  is  the  session  who  have  the  right  to 
take  cognizance  of  the  conduct  of  members  ;  in  Con- 
gregational bodies  it  is  the  whole  church.  In  others 
the  right  may  be  in  the  pastor  alone ;  and  more 
extended  or  more  restricted  duties  may  be  assigned 
to  different  office-bearers.  Greater  publicity,  also, 
may  be  given  in  one  society  to  the  sentence  of  the 
ruling  body  than  in  another  is  ever  thought  of.  In 
all  cases,  therefore,  the  right  of  protection  will  depend 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  173 

on  the  answer  that  can  be  given  to  the  question,  Were 
the  acts  complained  of  within  the  line  of  duty  of 
the  defenders  or  not,  according  to  the  usage  of  the 
body  to  which  they  and  the  pursuer  belong  ?  That 
question,  however,  can  only  be  answered  to  the  satis- 
faction of  a  civil  judge  by  a  proof  of  the  usage  itself. 
And  in  such  cases,  the  issue  to  be  sent  to  a  jury 
and  tried  must  be,  Whether  the  defenders  did  so  and 
so,  in  violation  of  their  duty,  and  to  the  injury  of  the 
pursuer  ? 

In  the  next  place,  it  must  be  apparent  that  the 
right,  if  it  ever  existed,  remained  in  force  at  the  time 
of  the  acts  complained  of.  The  law  of  privilege  will 
only  avail  elders  in  their  dealings  with  a  party  truly 
amenable  at  the  time  to  their  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion. Sessions  or  presbyteries  have  no  right  to  make 
the  character  or  conduct  of  those  who  do  not  belong 
to  their  religious  society  the  subject  of  their  dis- 
cussions or  reproofs.  This,  I  believe,  will  rarely 
if  ever,  occur.  But  it  may  be  that  a  member  of 
a  congregation,  so  soon  as  his  conduct  has  been  such 
as  to  call  for  sessional  inquiry,  leaves  the  body,  and 
renounces  the  authority  of  its  courts.  In  such  a  case 
their  proceedings  should  be  immediately  arrested,  for 
the  right  of  the  court  or  its  members  to  inquire  into 
the  alleged  immorality  has  ceased.  The  connection 
out  of  which  that  right,  and,  consequently,  their  pri- 
vilege in  dealing  with  it,  arose,  is  one  of  an  entirely 
voluntary  character;  and,  the  moment  a  man  disowns 
his  connection  with  them  as  his  ecclesiastical  su- 
periors, their  right  to  speak  or  judge  of  his  conduct 
terminates  with  his  connection.  All  they  have  to  do 
is  to  declare  him  no  longer  of  their  communion  or 
entitled  to  the  privileges  to  be  enjoyed  in  it;  or,  if  he 
bore  office  among  them,  to  denude,  or  declare  him  to 
be  denuded  of  it ;  and  the  reason  of  the  sentence 
should  be  his  declinature  orfugitation  from  discipline. 


174  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

not  his  guilt,  or  presumed  guilt,  of  the  matter  laid  to 
his  charge. 

And  lastly,  though  an  elder,  or  other  ecclesiastical 
officer  is  protected  by  the  plea  of  privilege,  the  pro- 
tection is  not  an  absolute  one — it  is  liable  to  be  lost, 
if  malicious  intent  can  be  averred  and  proved.  No 
man  is  entitled,  under  the  cover  of  his  official  station, 
to  gratify  a  spirit  of  malevolence  or  revenge,  by  ruin- 
ing the  character  of  his  neighbour.  If,  therefore,  it 
should  be  made  obvious  that  the  proceedings  of  an 
elder,  or  of  a  session,  were  actuated,  not  by  a  desire 
to  do  their  duty,  but  to  gratify  their  malice — that 
their  official  situation  was  only  a  cloak  which  they 
assumed  or  took  advantage  of  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
flicting injury  on  the  person  against  whom  their  sen- 
tences were  directed — an  action  will  be  sustained,  and 
damages  will  be  awarded.  It  is  not  enough,  however, 
that  a  mere  general  allegation  is  made  that  the  conduct 
complained  of  was  malicious.  Circumstances  must 
be  condescended  on,  affording,  at  least,  a  colourable 
case  in  support  of  the  charge  of  malice.  Something  in 
their  conduct,  apart  from  the  proceedings  themselves, 
or  which  gave  a  peculiar  character  to  these,  must  be 
stated,  which,  if  proved,  will  entitle  a  jury  of  impar- 
tial men  to  say  that  they  were  not  acting  in  good 
faith,  but  were  dishonestly  perverting  the  office  which 
they  held  into  an  instrument  of  injury  and  oppression. 

In  corroboration  of  these  remarks  I  may  now  al- 
lude to  some  of  the  cases  which  have  occurred  and 
been  decided  bearing  on  these  different  points. 

And  the  first  I  shall  notice  is  that  of  J\P  Queen,  <£•<?., 
r.  Grant,  25th  July,  1781,  and  21st  November,  1783  * 
This  was  an  action  of  damages  against  a  parish 
minister  for  refusing  tokens  of  admission  to  the  com- 
munion table  to  certain  parishioners  on  the  ground  of 
alleged  misconduct.  In  the  first  instance  the  action 
*  Mor.  Decisions,  pp.  7466  and  7468. 


THE  RULING  F.LDLRSHIP.  175 

was  limited  to  this  ground  of  injury;  and  the  Lord 
Ordinary,  while  he  disapproved  of  the  minister's  con- 
duct, found  '  that  as  in  the  refusal  the  defender  was 
1  acting  in  his  capacity  of  minister  of  the  parish,  he 
•is  not^  on  that  account,  amenable  to  the  civil  court  of 
'  law, and  therefore  finds  the  condescendence  not  rele- 
vant, and  assoilizes  the  defender.'  The  court  af- 
firmed this  judgment;  but,  the  pursuers  having  in  a 
reclaiming  petition  alleged  that  the  minister  had  in- 
dustriously circulated  the  calumny,  the  libel  was  al- 
lowed to  be  amended.  Accordingly,  the  pursuers  hav- 
ing offered  to  prove  that  he  had  said  to  several  p-rsons 
that  they  (the  pursuers)  had  perjured  themselves  be- 
fore the  Justiciary  Court,  •  the  court  thought  the  facts, 

•  thus  qualified,  injurious  and  actionable.     To  refuse 

•  admission  to  the  ordinances  of  religion,  or  to  give 
'  reasons  for  that  procedure  either  in  the  church  courts 
•or  in  private  admonition  to  the  parties  themselves, 
«  was  a  matter  merely  ecclesiastical,  but  to  propagate, 
•in  public  companies,  a  story  highly  prejudicial  to 
•the  reputation  of  a  parishioner,  or  even  to  give  a 

•  reason  for  his  conduct,  could  not  be  justified  by  the 

•  character  of  a  minister/  A  proof  was  consequently 
allowed,  and  damages  were  found  due. 

A  similar  decision  was  given  in  Robertson  v. 
Preston,  11th  Aug.,  1780.*  There,  it  had  been 
reported,  at  a  kirk- session,  that  Robertson  had  been 
guilty  of  immoralities.  He  was  summoned  to  attend  ; 
and,  having  disobeyed,  a  sentence  was  pronounced  that 
lie  was  unworthy  to  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 
An  action  was  raised  before  the  Commissaries, 
charging  the  minister  and  elders  with  having  scandal- 
ised his  character  both  in  the  session- house  and  out 
of  doors;  and  a  defence,  declining  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Commissaries,  having  been  repelled,^  the  case 
was  advocated  to  the  Court  of*  Session.  The  Lord 
*  Mot.,  p.  7468. 


176  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Ordinary  (Ilailes)  remitted  to  the  Commissaries 
refuse  a  proof  of  what  was  said  or  done  by  the  de- 
fenders in    the  kirk- session,    or   in    their   collective 
capacity,  but  to  allow  a  proof  of  what  they  did  as 
individuals.     To  this  the  Court  adhered. 

These  cases  related  to  sessions  of  the  Established 
Church,  but  the  principle  is  equally  applicable  to 
dissenting  church  courts.  Hence,  in  the  case  of 
Avchinc/ose  v.  Black,  6th  March,  1793,*  a  minister 
belonging  to  the  Burgher  synod  having  been  de- 
posed for  the  sin  of  fornication  from  the  office  of 
the  holy  ministry  by  a  sentence  of  his  presbytery, 
which  was  affirmed  by  the  synod,  he  raised  an  action 
of  slander  and  damages  against  the  members  of  the 
presbytery.  In  this  action,  to  make  out,  if  possible, 
a  relevant  case,  he  alleged  that  the  charge  and  pro- 
ceedings upon  it  were  the  result  of  a  foul  conspiracy 
on  the  part  of  his  brethren,  in  which,  by  importunity 
and  threats  of  persecution  en  the  one  hand,  and  pro- 
mises of  tenderness  and  absolute  secrecy  on  the  other, 
joined  with  his  own  bad  health  and  spirits  at  the 
time,  they  had  succeeded  in  wringing  from  him  cer- 
tain confessions,  expressed  in  equivocal  and  qualified 
terms,  which  truly  related  to  an  accidental  instance 
of  intemperance  in  liquor,  and  had  been  unduly  ap- 
plied by  the  presbytery  to  the  charge  of  fornication. 
The  members  of  presbytery  pleaded  their  privilege ; 
and  the  Lord  Ordinary,  '  in  respect  he  does  not  con- 
sider it  competent  for  this  court  to  review  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Associate  congregations,  commonly  called 
'  Burghers,  when  sentences  are  pronounced  by  them 
'  in  their  ecclesiastical  character,  therefore  sustains 
*  the  defences,  assoilizes,'  &c.  Auchinclose  reclaimed 
to  the  court,  and  detailed  circumstances  in  support  of 
his  pica,  that,  though  under  the  colour  of  judicial 
proceedings,  all  had  been  truly  done  in  prosecution  cf 
*  Hume's  Cases,  p.  595. 


THE  RULING  ELDEUS11IP.  177 

a  malicious  conspiracy  against  him.  'At  advising, 
*  the  Judges'  (says  Mr  Hume)  'were  generally  of 
'  opinion  that  the  defenders  were  answerable  if  it 
'could  be  shown  that  though  made  in  a  judicial  form, 
'  the  charge  against  the  pursuer  was  truly  a  calumny, 
'  and  was  made  and  prosecuted  in  a  malicious  spirit. 
'  But  all  agreed  in  thinking  that  the  pursuer  had  not 
'condescended  relevantly,  and  that  the  contents  of  a 
'  certain  letter  were  a  sufficient  answer  to  all  he  al- 
'  leged.'     They  therefore  refused  his  petition. 

Mr  Hume,  in  connection  with  his  report  of  this 
case,  mentions  another — Brownlie  and  Scott,  v.  Session 
of  Carluke,  1st  July,  1819 — as  having  been  decided 
on  the  verbal  report  of  a  Lord  probationer.  It  was  an 
action  of  damages  raised  by  two  individuals,  who  had 
been  deprived  of  their  privilege  as  members  of  the  con- 
gregation on  account  of  certain  alleged  irregularities 
in  their  conduct  relative  to  the  affairs  of  the  meeting- 
house; but  it  was  found  that  no  complaint  lay  in  the 
civil  court,  what  was  complained  of  having  been  done 
in  the  course  of  judicial  and  ecclesiastical  procedure, 
and  in  matters  which  wTere  competent  to  the  session. 

The  case  of  Greive  v.  Smith,  12th  Feb.,  1808,* 
is  also  in  point.  There  both  parties,  a  master  and 
servant,  were  members  of  a  congregation  of  Bereans. 
Smith  charged  his  servant  with  acts  of  dishonesty 
and  immorality  ;  and,  according  to  the  usage  of 
that  denomination,  he  brought  Greive's  conduct  be- 
fore the  church,  through  their  pastor,  by  a  written 
communication,  charging  him  as  a  person  devoid 
of  truth,  filled  with  malicious  thoughts,  abandoned 
to  a  reprobate  life,  given  to  wicked  and  dishonest 
practices,  and  unworthy  of  fellowship  in  any  chris- 
tian society.  The  church  held  several  meetings 
for  the  investigation  of  these  chaiges,  in  the  course 
of  which  both  parties  lost  temper,  and  Smith  called 

*  Hume's  Cases,  p.  637. 


178  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

Greive  a  vagabond  and  a  villain.  The  result  was, 
that  Greive  finally  separated  himself  from  the  society, 
and  brought  an  action  of  damages.  Besides  found- 
ing it  on  the  statements  made  to  the  pastor  and 
church,  the  action  charged  Smith  with  having  ex- 
pressed himself  to  the  prejudice  of  Greive's  honesty 
and  credit  to  two  or  three  different  persons.  The 
Lord  Ordinary  held  him  liable  generally  in  £100  of 
damages.  But,  on  a  reclaiming  note,  '  the  court 
'  thought  that  everything  must  be  laid  aside  that  had 
1  passed,  judicially  in  some  measure,  at  the  meetings 
'  of  the  congregation,  and  according  to  the  rules  and 

*  usages  of  the  Berean  Society.  The  exceptionable 
4  matter  was  what  passed  in  conversation  on  other 
'  occasions  elsewhere,  and  for  this  damages  may  be 

*  due,  but  not  to  so  high  an  amount,  especially  as 
'  Smith    seemed  not  to   be  altogether  without  some 

*  excuse.'     The  damages  were  reduced  to  £20. 

The  quotation  prefixed  to  these  Remarks,  from 
a  speech  of  Lord  Chief  Commissioner  Adam,  is 
taken  from  his  charge  to  the  jury  in  a  case, 
M'Lean  v.  Fraser,  19th  May,  1823.*  Damages 
were  there  claimed  against  a  minister  for  his  hav- 
ing accused  the  pursuer,  in  a  meeting  of  the  presby- 
tery, as  guilty  of  gross  violation  of  the  Sabbath.  The 
defence  was  that  what  the  defender  said  was  in  the 
exercise  of  his  duty,  while  the  pursuer  denied  this.  It 
was  admitted,  however,  that,  if  a  person  made  his 
public  station  a  cloak  for  private  malignity,  he  would 
not  be  protected  ;  but  it  was  at  the  same  time  argued 
that,  in  such  a  case,  not  merely  injury  but  direct  malice, 
or  some  previous  ground  of  malice,  must  be  proved. 
The  Lord  Chief  Commissioner  remarked  that,  as  the 
case  was  limited  to  what  was  done  in  a  church  court 
(it  had  not  been  so  at  the  outset),  there  might  be 
some  doubt  of  its  legality  ;  and,  if  the  action  had  been 

•  ^.furray's  Cases,  III..  353. 


THE  RULING  KLDERSUIP.  179 

brought  on  this  ground  alone,  it  probably  would  not 
have  been  sent  to  trial ;  and  that  no  proof  of  any 
grudge  or  act  showing  malice  had  been  offered.  The 
jury  gave,  under  his  directions,  a  verdict  for  the  de- 
fender. 

In    a  late    case,    that    of  Sturroch  v.    Greig   and 
others,    15th    Feb.,    1849,*    the    Court   went    even 
farther  than  in  some  of  the  previous  cases,  and  ex- 
cluded  part  of  a  libel  which    claimed  damages  for 
ecclesiastical  proceedings  and  sentences,  even  where 
an  allegation  was  made  that  these  had  been  originated 
and    carried    on    maliciously    and    without    probable 
cause.    It  was  an  action  at  the  instance  of  an  assistant 
schoolmaster  against  the  parish  minister  and  elders. 
The  grounds  of  the  claim  for  damages  on  the  part  of 
the  schoolmaster  were — 1st,  That  in  certain  sessional 
proceedings  against  him  minutes  were  recorded,  and 
that  in  a  petition  by  the  session  to  the  General  As- 
sembly statements  were  made,  setting  forth  that  there 
existed  a  fama  against  him  that  he  had  been  guilty  of 
fornication,  and  representing  him  as  guilty  of  falsehood 
and  of  conduct  unbecoming  the  character  of  a  christian, 
of  a  communicant,  and  of  a  teacher  of  youth,  and  that 
a  sentence  had  been  pronounced,  suspending  him  from 
church  privileges,  by  all  which  he  had  been  greatly 
injured  :  2d,  That  a  minute  of  the  session,  containing 
statements  injurious  to  the  pursuer's  character,  and 
assigning  reasons  why,  notwithstanding  the  decision 
of  the  superior  church  courts  reversing  their  sentences 
against  him,  the  session  regarded  him  as  guilty,  and 
considered  that  his  restoration  to  the  enjoyment  of 
sealing  ordinances  would  be  injurious  to  the  discipline 
of  the  church  and  to  the  promotion  of  true  religion, 
was   read   from   the   pulpit  by  the  minister  with  the 
sanction  and  by  the  authority  of  the  session:  3d,  That 
an  extract  of  one  of  the  sessional  minutes  had  been 
*  Cases  in  Court  of  Session,  New  Series,  Vol.  XL,  p.  1220. 


180  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

sent  to  a  local  board,  having  the  charge  of  a  mortifi- 
cation for  defraying  the  education  of  poor  children, 
some  of  whom  were  taught  by  the  pursuer,  as  a  rea- 
son for  the  session's  declining  to  fill  up  a  vacancy  in 
the  number  of  children  under  his  charge.  The  Court 
distinguished  between  these  different  charges,  and 
dealt  with  each  in  a  different  way.  The  first  they 
regarded  as  relating  to  sentences  pronounced  and 
proceedings  taken  by  the  session  in  a  proper  case 
of  discipline  duly  brought  before  it  and  within  its 
competency  and  province  as  a  church  court ;  and, 
although  it  was  alleged  that  the  statements  were  made 
maliciously  and  without  probable  cause,  they  decided 
that  no  action  of  damages  could  lie  against  the  mem- 
bers of  session  in  respect  of  these,  and  refused  to  send 
an  issue  to  a  jury.  In  regard  to  the  second,  they 
viewed  it  as  not  ex  facie  a  case  of  privilege,  and  sent 
an  issue  to  the  jury  to  say  whether  the  publication 
from  the  pulpit  was  made  in  violation  of  duty  ami  to 
the  pursuer's  injury.  And  as  to  the  third,  they 
treated  it  as  an  ordinary  case  of  defamation,  and 
authorised  an  issue  whether  the  minute  was  false  and 
calumnious,  and  whether  it  was  wrongfully  published 
to  the  pursuer's  injury. 

Here,  then,  it  will  be  seen,  a  clear  distinction  was 
taken  between  (1)  sessional  acts  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  a  case  of  discipline, — (2)  sessional  conduct 
out  of  that  course,  publishing  statements  to  the  party's 
prejudice  after  he  had  been  acquitted  by  the  superior 
judicatories, — and  (3)  communications  made  on  the 
subject  of  his  character  to  third  parties.  For  the  first, 
the  session  were  found  not  answerable  ;  for  the  second, 
liable  in  damages  only  if  in  violation  of  duty  ;  and  for 
the  third,  simply  if  false,  calumnious,  and  wrongful. 

This  case  related  to  the  conduct  of  a  kirk-session 
of  the  Established  Church  ;  and  in  the  consideration  of 
it,  the  Judges  were  led  to  speak  more  directly  in  re- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  181 

ference  to  the  powers  vested  in  the  church  courts  by 
the  statutes  establishing  the  Church  of  Scotland.  But 
many  of  the  expressions  used  show  that  the  law,  as 
expounded,  was  considered  equally  applicable  to  dis- 
senting church  courts.  The  Lord  Justice-Clerk  said 
— *  We  are  not  now  discussing  the  right  principles  of 

*  church    government,  according    to   the    Scriptures, 

*  neither  are  we  to  consider  the  extent  of  the  autho- 
'rity  over  the  members  of  a  dissenting  establishment, 

*  flowing  from  the  principles  sanctioned  among 
♦themselves,  and  submitted  to  by  the  act  of  joining 

*  the  same.  I  avoid  the  question  as  to  whether  simi- 
1  lar  protection  extends  to  their  church  courts,  solely 

*  because  that  is  not  the  case  before  us — but  not  from 
'  any  doubt  now  entertained   by  me  that  they  may 

*  claim  the  same.  1  take  simply  the  fact  that  the 
4  Church   of  Scotland,    as    established    by    law,    has 

*  adopted ;  and  that  statute  has  declared  and  pro? 
'  claimed,  that  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  as  in- 
terpreted by  the  Church  of  Scotland,  its  church 
'  courts  are  invested  with  the  right  and  duty  of  dis- 
cipline over  its  members;  and  that  such  right  flows 

*  from  the  divine  institution  of  the  christian  ministry, 
4  and  of  the  presbyteries  which  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land holds  to  be,  although  not  of  divine  prescription, 
'as  the  only  form  of  church  government,  but  as 
'  founded  on  and  as  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God. 

4  No  one  need  be,  unless  he  chooses,  a  member  of 
'  the  Church  of  Scotland,  or  of  any  particular  sect,  in 
*the  constitution  of  which  there  are  things  to  which 
'he  objects.  If  he  joins  the  same — and  if  I  under- 
'stand  the  statements  here,  the  pursuer  did  so  delibe- 
'  rately,  after  being  employed  in  the  teaching  of  youth, 
'  and  therefore  of  mature  years — then  he  must  take  its 
'  constitution  as  he  finds  it.  He  must  be  subjected  to 
'  the  authority  and  discipline  of  the  church,  and  he 
'  must  be  content  to  acknowledge  the  authority  under 

M 


182  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

*  which  that  discipline  is  exercised  to  be  of  divine  in- 
'  stitution,  and  bestowed  by  the  great  Head  of  the 
4  Church  on  the  office-bearers  of  the  church  over 
'  him — if  such  shall  be  the  view  taken  of  his  sub- 
jection to  church  discipline  by  the  laws  of  die  Church 
1  of  Scotland. 

'No  doubt  all  this  is  a  very  grave  and  weighty 

*  question — one  of  the  most  serious  with  which  legisla- 
'  tiun  or  the  arrangements  of  voluntary  churches  have 
'  to  deal  with.  No  doubt  such  views  of  the  origin 
'  and  character  of  the  authority  of  the  church  over 
'  its  members,  whether  an  established  or  dissenting 
'church,  entrust  much  to  the  weakness   and   frailties 

*  of  human  nature.  But  if  the  church  which  the  in- 
dividual has  joined,  being  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
'  has  proclaimed  and  announced  its  views  of  scripture 
'  on  this  subject,  and  placed  its  members  under  the 
'  discipline  of  the  church,  by  reason  and  in  respect  of 
'  the  authority  bestowed  on  the  church  acting  through 
'its  office-bearers  by  divine  ordination  and  appoint- 
'  ment ;  then,  according  to  that  very  theocracy, 
'  so  established,  the  member  of  the  church  must 
'  acknowledge  and  submit  to  the  authority  under 
'  which  the  discipline  is  exercised  over  him.  In  an 
'  establishment  he  may  have  this  advantage,  that  the 
'  grounds  on  which  discipline  can  be  exercised  over 
'  him  may  be  defined  by,  or  must  be  consistent  with 
'  law  ;  and  whether  some  think  this  interferes  with 
'  the  spiritual  liberty  of  the  church,  at  least  in  this 
'  question  it  removes  one  great  source  of  objection  to 
'  the  plea  contended  for  by  the  defenders,  and  affords 
'  the  members  of  the  Established  Church  a  protec- 
'  tion  which  it  may  be — I  only  say  it  may  be — the  con- 
'  stitutions  of  voluntary  churches  may  not  have  given, 
'  as  clearly  as  they  have  established  the  subjection  of 
'  their  members  to  ecclesiastical  discipline.'     . 

'  We  have  to  deal  only  with  a  party  who  has  delibc- 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP.  183 

*rately  by  choice,  we  must  presume,  and  still  more 

*  by  the  acceptance  of  an  office,  \>ut  still  voluntarily, 

*  subjected  himself  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of 
'  Scotland,  whatever  that  may  be.' 

Subsequently,  his  Lordship  said— 'From  this,  I 
'think  it  necessarily  iollows  that,  in  matters  clearly 
4  within  the  cogni/ance  of  church  officers  or  courts,  as 
4  subject  to  church  censures  (I  keep  to  the  exact  case 
1  before  us,  and  the  law  within  the  statute),  when  the 

*  church  judicatory  is  thus  exercising  the  government 
4  so  entrusted  to  it,  its  judicatories  and  officers  are 
'  not  amenable  to  the  civil  courts  of  the  country  in 
1  damnges  for  alleged  wrong.  They  have  been  trusted 
4  as  a  separate  government.  The  declaration  of  the 
4  authority  under  which  they  act,  assumes  that  it  must 
'be  separately  administered — free  from  control — free 
'from  suljection  or  subordination  to  civil  tribunals. 

'  The  inquiry  into  their  motives — which  is  the  very 
4  essence  of  the  pursuer's  case — by  other  civil  courts — 

*  it  may  be  by  men  not  even  of  the  church — is  abso- 
'  lately  repugnant  to  the  freedom  which  must  belong 
4  to  a  church  in  matters  of  discipline. 

*  To  any  party  alleging  wrong  by  such  courts,  the 
4  answer,  then,  is  plain — if  these  courts  were  acting 
4  wholly  within  the  matter  committed  to  them,  they 

are  distinct  and  supieme — and  the  authority  under 
4  which  they  sit,  excludes  any  inquiry  into  their  mo- 
4  tives  by  civil  courts.  But  hardship,  in  truth,  there 
'is  not,  whatever  the  party  may  ieel,  for  he  has 
4  chosen  to  subject  himself,  in  all  matters  which  can 
4  come  within  the  discipline  of  the  church,  to  the 
'  Church  of  Scotland  as  established  by  law  ;  and  the 
4  authority  of  that  church  in  cases  falling  within  dis- 
cipline, has  been  announced  and  fixed. 

fcThe  view  that  may  be  taken  of  this  matter  by  in- 
'  {lependent  religious  bodies,  unless  their  constitution 

is  very  express,  may  go  much  farther;  and  it  may 


184  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

'  be  that  their  church  courts  may  have,  as  against 
'  their  own   ministers  [members],  the  sole  right    to 

*  decide  what  is  competent   matter  for  church  disci- 

*  pline  and  ecclesiastical  government.  And  such 
''bodies  may  consider  it  an  objection  to  the  purity 
-and  independence  of  the  Established  Church,  that  it 
1  does  not  possess  such  power  uncontrolled.     But  to 

*  the  members  of  the  Establishment  there  is,  on  the 
1  other  hand,  the  benefit  of  the  protection  which  the 

*  establishment  of  a  church  by  statute  implies — viz., 

*  that  the  church  courts  must  act  within  the  limits 
4  assigned  to  them.     Now,  the  opinion  I  give  applies 

*  solely  to  a  case  in  which,  as  here,  it  is  distinctly 
'  admitted,  or  plainly  appears,  that  the  church  cen- 
'  sures   were  enforced  in   respect  of  matters  clearly 

*  falling  within  the  discipline  competent  to  the  church, 
'  and  of  which  the  church  courts  had  entire  cog- 
'  nizance.' 

In  like  manner,  Lord  Medwyn  remarked — '  The 
'Scottish  Confession  is  declaratory  of  this  distinction, 
'and  of  the  independence  of  the  church  courts  of  the 
'Established  Church  of  Scotland  :  but  the  rule  is  not 
1  confined  to  these.  I  ascribe  the  right  of  indepen- 
'  dent  church  government  to  a  much  higher  source, 
'  and  give  it  a  much  wider  application  ;  accordingly, 
'  our  courts  respect  it  in  the  case  also  of  all  tolerated 
'  sects — those  other  religious  bodies  where  the  mera- 
'  bers  submit  themselves  voluntarily  to  the  jurisdiction 
'of  the  office-bearers  of  their  church,  whatever  it  may 

*  be,  so  that  no  member  can  come  to  the  civil  court 
'  with  a  claim  of  damages  in  a  proper  ecclesiastical 
'question,  implying  a  review  of  the  proceedings  of 
'  the  church  court  on  its  merits,  on  an  allegation  of  a 
'  wrong  done  by  that  court.'  And  his  Lordship 
referred  to  Auchinclose's  case,  and  Greive  v.  Smith, 
both  above  mentioned. 

And  Lord  Moncrieff  said — '  It  appears  to  me  that 


THE  RULING  ELDERSIIIP.  I8t? 

'no  one  can  have  any  just  right  to  insist  in  such  an 

*  action  against  the  members  of  the  kirk-session  of 

*  the  Established  Church,  or,  indeed,  of  any  church,  of 
'which  he  holds  himself  to  be  a  member,  when  he 
4  reads  the  terms  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  in  sections 
'  3  and  4  of  chapter  xxx.,  which  he  professes  to  re- 
'ceive  as  the  confession  of  his  faith  in  this  matter.' 

*  The  pursuer  has  voluntarily 

1  submitted  himself  to  the  jurisdiction  legally  consti- 
'  tuted  for  dealing  with  such  things ;  and  I  think 
'  that,  in  such  a  case,  the  privilege  in  the  sentences 
'pronounced,  and  proceedings  connected  with  them, 
'is  absolute  against  the  competency  of  such  an  action 
'in  the  civil  court.' 

Lord  Cockburn  dissented  from  the  other  Judges,  in 
so  far  as  their  opinions  went  to  exclude  action  even 
where  malice  and  want  of  probable  cause  was  alleged, 
which  he  regarded  as  introducing"  a  new  and  dan- 
gerous principle,  and  giving  kirk-sessions  'an  abso- 
lute licence  of  defamation  ;'  but  he  also  viewed  the 
principle  as  equally  applicable  to  dissenting  churches. 
After  stating,  in  strong  terms,  what  would  in  his 
judgment  be  the  effect  of  such  a  principle,  he  says, — 
4  2s  or  is  this  frightful  system  confined  to  the  Estab- 
'lishment.  The  principle,  if  it  be  followed  out,  must 
'  apply  to  all  our  Presbyterian  dissenters,  in  their 
'  dealings  with  their  own  adherents,  and,  indeed,  to 
'  every  religious  community.  So  that  the  whole  coun- 
1  try  is  studded  with  little  inquisitions ;  from  whose 
'  fatal  but  irresponsible  censures,  no  man  has  any 
'  safety  except  he  who,  in  reference  to  such  a  system, 
'  is  in  what  must  be  considered  the  comfortable  con- 
'  dition  of  belonging  to  no  religious  community  at  all; 
'  though  even  he  is  by  no  means  quite  secure  against 
'  the  general  censorship  of  the  Established  session.'  The 
case  on  the  issues  which  were  allowed,  I  may  add,  went 
to  trial,  and  pretty  heavy  damages  were  awarded. 


186  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

In  this  case,  I  think,  the  Court  went  rather  far  in 
excluding  an  issue  in  reference  to  the  sessional  pro- 
ceedings where  malice  was  alleged  and  offered  to 
be  proved ;  and  in  a  later  case,  that  of  Dunbar 
against  the  Presbytery  of  Auchterarder,  11th  Dec, 
1819,*  where  a  presbytery,  who  had  deposed  a 
schoolmaster  under  the  Schoolmaster's  Act,  on  a 
charge  of  adultery  found  proven,  and  whose  proceed- 
ings were  reduced  by  the  Court  of  Session  in  conse- 
quence of  irregularities,  were  prosecuted  for  damages, 
the  Court  (First  Division)  threw  out  the  action,  but 
solely  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  specifically 
averred  that  they  had  been  actuated  by  malice. 

And  in  a  still  later  case,  that  of  Edwards  v. 
Beybie,  #c,  28th  June,  1850,  f  the  general  principle 
was  very  fully  argued.  This  was  a  case  where 
the  vestrymen  of  an  Episcopalian  chapel  were  sued 
for  damages  for  having  ejected  the  pursuer,  a  brother 
vestryman,  on  charges  of'  gross  lying  and  falsehood, 
and  as  unworthy  to  take  any  part  in  the  business  and 
counsels  of  God's  house,  and  got  their  sentence  read 
from  the  pulpit.  Their  title  to  the  character  of  a 
church  court  was  much  doubted.  But  L^rd  MkKen- 
zie — the  ether  Judges  concurring,  said, — '  Supposing 
1  the  defenders  could  be  regarded  as  having  aeted 
'judicially,  I  conceive  the  general  rule  to  be,  that 
4  judges,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  if  they,  in  the  exercise 
1  of  their  function,  commit  a  wrong  maliciously  and 
'  without  probable  cause,  must  be  liable  in  damages; 
'  and  I  am  aware  of  no  exception  applicable  to  this 
'  case.  I  think,  therefore,  the  pursuer  must  get  his 
'  issue.'  The  defenders  then  proposed  to  allow  an 
issue  whether  the  facts  complained  of  were  done  '  in 
violation  of  their  duty  as  vestrymen,'  etc.,  and  this 
being  accepted,  the  case  went  to  trial,  and  damages 
were  found  due. 

*  Cases,  &c.,  Vol.  XIL,  p.  284.  f  Hid.,  p  1134. 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHII.  ]  87 

Before  closing  this  enumeration  of  authorities,  I 
may  refer  to  another,  as  illustrative  of  the  remark 
previously  made,  that  it  is  not  safe  to  pronounce 
sentence  of  condemnation  on  parties  who,  before 
such  sentence  was  issued,  renounce  or  disown  the 
authority  or  jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  court 
to  which  they  were  for  a  time  subject.  I  refer 
to  Dunbar  v.  Skinner,  3d  March,  1849.*  The  bear- 
ing of  this  case  on  the  point  in  hand  will  be  suf- 
ficiently seen,  without  any  detail  of  it,  from  the  rubric 
given  to  the  report:  *  A  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
1  England  subscribed,  under  certain  conditions,  the 
'  canons  of  the  Scottish  Episcopal  Church,  and  sub- 
'  mitted  himself  to  the  authority  of  one  of  the  bishops 
'  of  that  church.     He  afterwards  withdrew  his  sub- 

*  scription,  alleging,  as  his  reason,  that  the  conditions 
1  on  which  he  had  subscribed  had  been  violated  by 
i  the  bishop.  An  ecclesiastical  sentence  against  him 
'  was  subsequently  issued  by  the  bishop.     Iu  an  ac- 

*  tion   of  damages  at  the  instance  of  the  clergyman 

*  against  the  bishop,  on  the  ground  that  the  sentence 
'  pronounced  was  libellous, — Held,  1.  That  the  bishop 

*  had  no  authority  at  law  to  pronounce  such  sentence. 

*  :;.  That  his  authority,  if  he  ever  had  such,  depended 

*  on  the  contract  of  submission  by  the  clergyman, 
1  who  was  entitled  to  withdraw  from  it  if  its  condi- 
tions were  violated.  3.  That  the  court  has  jurisdic- 
c  tion  to  try  whether  the  contract  was  violated.      4. 

*  Defence  that  the  act  of  the  bishop  was  privileged, 

*  repelled,   the  clergyman   having  offered  to  prove  a 

*  violation  of  the  contract.' 

These  decisions,  to  which  others  might  be  added, 
show,  I  think — 

1.  That  sessions,  proceeding  according  to  the  rules 
and  usages  of  the  church,  and  acting  in  the  spirit 
which  ought  ever  to  guide  them,  have  no  cause  to 

*  Case?,  &c,  Vol.  XL,  p.  945. 


1 88  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

fear  the  results  of  any  actions  of  damage  with  which 
they  may  be  threatened,  but  will  be  protected  by 
privilege.     But, 

2.  If  they  make  matters  of  discipline  the  subject  of 
conversation  and  remark  out  of  session  and  apart 
from  their  official  actings,  they  are  liable  to  be  dealt 
with  as  other  defamers  ;  or, 

3.  If  they  proceed  to  pronounce  sentences,  find- 
ing guilty  of  immoralities  or  other  misdemeanors 
persons  who  have  left  their  communion  and  dis- 
owned their  authority,  they  expose  themselves  to 
prosecution  ;  or, 

4.  If  they  allow  themselves  to  be  actuated  by  ma- 
licious motives  or  revengeful  feelings,  even  their 
judicial  actings,  if  proved  to  have  originated  in,  or 
to  have  been  influenced  by  these,  may  subject  them 
in  damages. 

Against  these  limitations  of  their  privilege  of  pro- 
tection, church  rulers  have  no  right  to  complain. 
Even  with  these  exceptions  they  have  all  they 
are  entitled  to  demand ;  and  they  enjoy  an  equal 
privilege  to  that  which  the  civil  judges  of  the 
land  (other  than  those  of  the  supreme  court  itself) 
possess. 

Public  rebukes,  or  the  publication  to  congregations 
of  the  sentences  of  sessions  or  presbyteries,  are  now, 
at  least  in  the  ordinary  run  of  cases  of  discipline, 
comparatively  rare,  but  they  are  sometimes  re- 
quired ;  and  as  it  is  part  of  the  law  of  the  church 
that  sentences  of  suspension  or  deposition  of  office- 
bearers are  to  be  intimated  to  the  congregation  at 
large,  and  that  occasionally  rebukes  to  private  mem- 
bers are  to  be  publicly  administered, — it  follows,  from 
the  principles  above  stated,  that  where  sucli  publica- 
tion is  ordered  by  a  session  or  presbytery,  both  the 
members  of  these  courts  and  the  minister  who  is  their 
mouth  in  the  announcement  or  rebuke,  being  in  the 


THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP,  1 89 

execution  of  their  duty,  will  be  protected  by  privilege. 
But  this  privilege  will  not  extend  to  a  minister  who 
shall  so  far  forget  himself,  as  from  the  pulpit  to 
calumniate  or  bring  charges  against  either  his  own 
hearers  or  others,  whether  by  name,  or  in  such  a 
way  as  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  of  their  intended 
application.  The  place  and  the  circumstances, 
instead  of  affording  protection,  will  aggravate  the 
offence  in  the  eye  of  law,  and  increase  the  amount 
of  damages.  Several  cases  of  this  kind  have 
occurred  ;  but,  as  they  do  not  fall  particularly  within 
the  subject  in  hand,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention 
them  below.* 

Neither  does  it  fall  strictly  within  the  object  of 
these  remarks  to  consider  how  far  private  members 
of  the  church  are  protected  in  the  communications 
they  may  make  to  sessions  or  to  individual  elders, 
in  reference  to  the  conduct  of  their  fellow-members. 
But  the  general  principles  above  stated  apply  to  them 
whenever  duty  can  be  pleaded  ;  and  the  case  of  Greive 
v.  Smith  is  an  instance  in  point.  It  may  be  remarked 
generally,  1.  That  when  persons  are  called  on  to  give 
evidence,  or  to  state  what  has  come  under  their  obser- 
vation, they  are  as  safe  to  do  so  to  ecclesiastical  office- 
bearers as  in  civil  suits — and  2.  That  as  it  is  their  in- 
terest that  the  membership  of  the  church  to  which  they 
belong  should  be  kept  pure,  so  it  is  their  right  to  com- 
plain of  or  bring  under  the  notice  of  their  elders  any 
conduct  of  their  fellow-members  by  which  they  have 
been  offended,  or  which  is  calculated,  in  their  estima- 
tion, to  bring  discredit  on  the  religious  society. 
In  doing  this  they  will  be  safe  from  an  action  of 
damages,  providing  they  have  probable  cause  for  their 
complaint,  and  it  is  not  made  maliciously.     Were 

*  Scotland   v.  Thomson,  8th  Aug.,  1776.     Morrison,  v.  Dili- 
gence, Ap.  No.  3.     Adam,  v.  Allan,  23d  Feh.,  1841,  Cases,  &c,  ii? 
1059.     Smith,  v.  Gentles,  31st  Jan.,  1844,  Cases,  &c,  vi.,  565 


190  THE  RULING  ELDERSHIP. 

such  a  case  occurring,  the  right  and  duty  of  com- 
munication might  be  denied,  and  it  might  be  incum- 
bent on  the  defender  to  prove  its  existence  according 
to  the  usage  of  the  body ;  but,  that  right  bein^ 
established,  effect  would  be  given  to  the  plea  of 
privilege. 


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